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FIDISTORIA. 


^Siisr^ 


BY 

REV.  JAMES  P.  BARRY, 

IRREMOVABLE   RECTOR  OF   ST.  PAUL'S. 
L.BXINQTON,  KT. 


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JTaMBS  M.   BTRI«fl 

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Copyright 
May,   1901, 

BY 

James  P.  Barry. 
All  rights  reserved. 

LOAN  STACK 


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PREFACE.  Y4^0  f 

This  volume,  as  its  coined  name  implies,   treats  di^ 
some  points  of  Faith  and  some  of  History.       Not  any 
point  is  exhaustively  treated.      Each  chapter  is  but  a 
glance  at  its  subject. 

Though  the  raising  from  the  dead  of  Timotheus  in 
the  palace  of  his  father  Pudens  (pew-dens)  be  not  con- 
firmed, yet  it  does  r;ot  attribute  anything  more  to  St. 
Peter,  than  is  ascribed  to  him  in  the  ninth  chapter  of 
the  "Acts  of  the  Apostles." 

*'And  in  Joppe  there  was  a  certain  disciple  named 
Tabitha,  which  by  interpretation  is  called  Dorcas. 
This  woman  was  full  of  good  works  and  alms  deeds 
which  she  did. 

"And  it  came  to  pass  in  those  days,  that  she  was 
sick  and  died.  Whom  when  they  had  washed,  they 
laid  her  in  an  upper  chamber. 

"And  forasmuch  as  Lydda  was  nigh  to  Joppe,  the 
disciples  hearing  that  Peter  was  there,  sent  unto  him 
two  men  asking;     Be  not  loth  to  come  unto  us. 

"And  Peter  rising  up  went  with  them.  And  when 
he  was  come,  they  brought  him  into  the  upper 
chamber:  and  all  the  widows  stood  around  him  weep- 
ing, and  showing  him  the  coats  and  garments  which 
Dorcas  made  them. 

"And  they  all  being  put  forth,  Peter  kneeling  down 
prayed,  and  turning  to  the  body  he  said:  Tabiiha  arise. 
And  she  opened  her  eyes:  and  seeing  Peter,  she  sat  up. 

"And  giving  her  his  hand,  he  lifted  her  up.  And 
when  he  had  called  the  saints  and  the  widows,  he 
presented  her  alive. 

"And  it  was  made  known  throughout  all  Joppe;  and 
many  believed  in  the  Lord."     Ads,  IX.  36-42. 

As  to  the  rest,  the  book  must  speak  for  itself. 

St.  Paul's, 

June  29th, 

1901. 

913 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 

There  IS  A  God 1 

The  BivESSED  Trinity 5 

Angei^ 8 

Evil.  Spirits 12 

Oracles 16 

Spiritualism 20 

Apparitions 21 

The  World 25 

Man 30 

Spontaneous  Generation 30 

Evolution 32 

Antiquity  of  Man 34 

The  Races  of  Men 40 

Adam 46 

Baptism 47 

The  Immaculate  Conception 48 

The  Incarnation 49 

The  Blessed  Sacrament 61 

The  Resurrection 52 

Pen  Pictures 54 

The  Church 66 

The  Apostles • 66 

St.  Andrew 67 

St.  James  the  Greater 6S 

St.  John  the  Evangelist 69 

Ss.  Philip  and  Bartholomew 63 

Ss.  Thomas  and  Matthew 63 

St.  Jambs  the  Less 66 

St.  Mark 67 

St.  Luke  69 

Symbols  ok  the  Evanoklists 70 

ST.  Peter 70 

Ss.  Pbtbr  and  Mark  bntrr  Rom k  72 


■vi  CONTENTS. 

Page. 
St.  Peter  in  the  Pai^ace  of  Pudens  {pew-dens) 90 

PUDENS  I.EADS  St.  PETER  TO  THE  CHAMBER  OF 

Death 88 

Pudens  showing  Rome  to  St.  Peter 92 

St.  Peter's  Apoi^ogy  for  Himself 110 

Nero  Sets  Fire  TO  Rome 116 

The  Centurion's  Story 122 

Martyrdom  and  Buriai,  of  SS.  Peter  and  Paul  ...  130 
The  Catacombs 136 

The  First  Three  Centuries. 

The  Martyrs 138 

Popes  of  the  Catacombs 144 

Imperial  Rome 180 

The  Soldier  Martyrs - 206 

The  Fourth  Century. 

The  CiRCENSi AN  Games 215 

Punishment  OF  THE  Emperors 223 

CONSTANTINE  THE  GrEAT. 

Battle  of  Saxa  Rubra 227 

The  Triumph 238 

CoNSTANTiNE  Digs  the  Foundation  of  St.  Peter's  246 

The  Council  of  Sardica 259 

The  Close  of  the  Fourth  Century , 261 

The  Fifth  Century. 

The  Monk  Telemachus 265 

The  Nemesis 271 

The  Nun  and  the  Sacred  Vessels  282 

The  Ghost  of  Gamaliel 284 

TheNemesis 292 

Ancient  Ireland 296 

St.  Patrick 321 

Christian  Ireland 328 

The  Sixth  Century. 

ToTiLA  destroys  Rome 333 

The  Pestilence  and  Pope  Gregory 349 

St.  Augustine  Converts  England 355 


CONTENTS.  vii 

Page. 
The  Seventh  Century. 

The  Angi,o-Saxons 367 

The  Pope  and  the  Emperor 370 

The  Eighth  Century. 

Some  Popes  and  some  Kings  of  France 375 

The  Pope's  Temporal  Power 377 

Pope  Leo  3rd.  and  Charlemagne.. 382 

Canonization  of  St  Switbert 383 

gocellinus  restored  to  life 387 

Coronation  of  Charlemange 391 

The  Pope  AND  THE  Turk 392 

The  Church  and  Education 39ft 

Protestant  Tributes 396 


FIDISTORIA. 


THERE  IS  A  GOD. 

The  Catholic  Church,  the  Holy  Scriptures,  the 
great  body  of  mankind,  and  this  universe  of  ours, 
proclaim  in  solemn  and  unmistakable  tones,  the  exist- 
ence of  one  Supreme  Ruler,  who  has  created  and  who 
governs  all. 

The  Catholic  Church  proclaims  it  in  her  Creeds; 
the  Holy  Scriptures  teach  it  every  where;  the  Indian 
in  his  mountain  fastness  or  torrid  valley,  kneels  in 
prayer  to  the  Great  Spirit;  the  backwoodsman  of  Aus- 
tralia hears  the  inward  voice  telling  him  of  a  Creator; 
the  Egyptian  touching  with  his  brow  the  sands  of 
the  desert  reverentially  adores  the  same  Great  Master. 

We  see  God  every  where  in  nature.  His  Divine 
Majesty  has  written  in  letters  of  supernal  light  upon 
every  part  of  this  vast  fabric  of  creation  the  three 
words,  omnipotence,  omniscience,  omnipresence,  and 
in  these  three  we  have  the  teaching  in  part  of  Divine 
Revelation  to  man. 

Omnipotence  reveals  a  Being  of  infinite  power; 
omniscience,  a  Being  of  infinite  wisdom;  omnipres- 
ence, a  Being  infinite  in  his  existence,  everywhere. 
and  from  eternity  to  eternity,  uncircumscribed  by 
place,  untrammelled  by  time,  having  no  past,  no  future, 
but  ever  living  in  the  ever  present. 

God  has  revealed  Himself  by  creatures  inanimate 
and  animate;  the  ponderous  globes  of  night;  the  deeps 


2  THERE  IS  A  GOD. 

of  ocean;  the  wonders  of  light;  the  chemistry  of  all 
things  that  are;  by  angels  as  recorded  in  Holy  Writ;  by 
men,  prophets  and  apostles;  by  the  lives  of  His  devoted 
servants,  the  saints;  and  most  especially  has  He 
revealed  Himself  by  Himself  Incarnate,  and  by  His 
own  mouth-piece,  the  Holy  Church.  Hence  the  defi- 
nition of  the  Vatican  Council:  '*If  any  one  shall  say 
that  the  one  true  God,  our  Creator  and  I^ord,  cannot 
be  certainly  known  by  the  natural  light  of  human  rea- 
son through  created  things,  let  him  be  anathema." 

Unbelievers  in  Divine  Revelation  object  by  saying 
'*There  is  no  God,  matter  is  eternal,"  yet,  strange  to 
say,  they  make  the  bare  statement  without  any  attempt 
at  proof.  A  schoolboy  could  meet  the  objection  by 
replying  * 'There  is  a  God,  as  matter  could  not  be  eter- 
nal," and  so  far  the  argument  might  close.  But  the 
schoolboy  could  continue  and  add,  "The  existence 
alone  of  matter  is  only  a  part,  we  have  also  to  consider 
the  wondrous  wisdom  and  harmony  and  design  dis- 
played everywhere  in  the  arrangement  of  this  matter." 

It  must  be  admitted  by  all  that  dull,  inert  matter 
could  not  possess  a  particle  of  intelligence,  and  there- 
fore could  not  have  had  anything  to  do  with  the  per- 
fect arrangements  around  us. 

Let  us  begin  with  this  globe  of  earth  on  which  we 
live.  Science  tells  us,  and  proves  the  statement  that 
the  earth  is  just  of  the  proper  size  for  the  home  of  man. 
If  larger,  the  attraction  of  gravitation  would  prevent 
us  walking  with  ease;  we  should  on  this  account  expe- 
rience awkwardness  in  raising  the  feet;  if  smaller,  we 
should  find  equal  difficulty  in  planting  them.  Now, 
did  the  earth  have  intelligence  enough  to  make  itself 
of  the  size  just  suitable  to  the  wants  of  man  ?  Will  the 


THERE  IS  A  GOD.  ^ 

unbeliever  say  that  it  possessed  this  necessary  intelli- 
gence ?  And  if  the  earth  did  not  design  its  proper 
size,  who  did  ? 

However,  we  have  not  yet  done  with  the  earth.  It 
is  surrounded  by  an  atmosphere  containing  the  lung- 
conserving  ingredient  of  oxygen.  In  one  hundred 
grains  weight  of  the  atmosphere,  there  is  a  little  more 
than  twenty-three  grains  of  oxygen;  if  there  were 
only  nineteen  or  less,  we  should  die  of  cold;  if  there 
were  thirty  or  more  we  should  die  of  fever:  has  the 
atmosphere  arranged  its  component  parts,  if  not  who- 
has  appointed  them?  Moreover,  the  many  hundred 
millions  of  inhabitants  aie  continually  inhaling  this 
oxygen,  and  exhaling  it,  under  the  form  of  a  poisonous^ 
gas — now,  how,  or  by  whom,  is  the  continual  fresh. 
supply  furnished  ? 

The  sun  supplies  us  with  light  and  heat,  yet  it  does^ 
not  afford  sufficient  heat,  as  according  to  the  experi- 
ments made  by  the  astronomer  Pouillet,  in  1838,  with. 
the  pyrheliometer  invented  by  him,  the  stars  supply 
more  than  four-fifths  of  the  heat  afforded  by  the  sun. 
the  proportion  being  100  to  85.  Will  the  unbeliever 
say  that  the  sun  and  the  stars  have  arranged  between 
themselves  their  places  in  space,  and  the  quaniity  of 
heat  they  should  emit,  so  as  to  afford  the  genial  tem- 
perature that  charms  us;  so  as  to  give  us,  without 
scorching  or  freezing,  the  flowers  of  spring,  the  fruits 
of  summer,  the  golden  grain  of  the  autumn  ? 

The  wonders  of  the  sky  plainly  reveal  tlu  m  -a 
of  Infinite  Power.  This  globe  on  which  uc  live 
weighing  six  thousand  millions  of  billions  of  tons  is 
swung  around  the  sun  in  a  year's  time  by  the  agency 
of  two  forces:  the  one,  attracting;  the  other  repelling; 


4  THERE  IS  A  GOD, 

yet  attracting  and  repelling  with  such  precision  that 
it  never  leaves  its  orbit.  No  skilled  charioteer  ever 
reined- in  his  spirited  steeds,  as  those  forces  rule  the 
earth.  The  repelling-centrifugal  force  is  unexplained 
by  science.  What  is  it  but  the  impetus  received 
when  flung  forth  from  the  Hand  of  the  Creator? 

The  book  of  Job  proposes  some  puzzling  questions 

to  the  unbeliever:     "Where  was  thou  when  I  laid  the 

foundations  of   the   earth?      Tell   me   if    thou    hast 

understanding.     Who  hath  laid  the  measures  thereof 

if  thou  knowest  ?  or  who  hath  stretched  the  line  upon 

it  ?     Upon  what  are  its  bases  grounded  ?  or  who  laid 

ihe  corner  stone   thereof?     When  the  morning  stars 

l)raised  Me  together,  and  all  the  sons  of  God  made  a 

joyful  melody?     Who  shut  up  the  sea  with  doors, 

when  it  broke  forth  issuing  out  of  the  womb  ?     When 

I  made  a  cloud  the  garment  thereof,  and  wrapped  it 

in  a  mist  as  in  swaddling  bands?     I  set  my  bounds 

around  it,  and  made  it  a  bar  and  doors;  And  I  said: 

Hitherto   thou  shalt  come,  and  shalt  go  no  further, 

and  here  thou  shalt  break  thy  swelling  waves.     Didst 

thou  since  thy  birth  command  the  morning,  and  show 

the  dawning  of  the  day  its  place  ?     Hast  thou  entered 

into  the  depths  of  the  sea,  and  walked  in  the  lowest 

parts  of  the  deep?     Have   the   gates  of   death   been 

opened  to   thee,    and   hast  thou   seen  the   darksome 

doors  ?     Where  is  the  way  where  light  dwelleth,  and 

where  is  the   place   of  darkness?     Didst  thou  know 

then   that   thou   shouldst   be   born  ?   and   didst   thou 

know  the  number  of  thy  days?      Hast  thou  entered 

into  the  storehouses  of  the  snow,  or  hast  thou  beheld 

the  treasures  of  the  hail  ?      By  what  way  is  the  light 

spread  ?      Who  gave  a  course  to  violent  showers,  or  a 


THE  BLESSED  TRINITY.  5 

way  for  noisy  thunder  ?  Shalt  thou  be  able  to  join 
together  the  shining  stars,  the  Pleiades  or  canst  thou 
stop  the  turning  about  of  Arcturus?  Canst  thou 
bring  forth  the  day  star  in  its  time,  and  make  the 
evening  star  to  rise  upon  the  children  of  the  earth  ? 
Canst  thou  send  lightnings  and  will  they  go,  and  will 
they  return  and  say  to  thee:     Here  we  are  ?" 

Unbeliever,  can  you  answer  those  questions,  if  not 
be  ashamed  of  your  dullness  in  failing  to  perceive  in 
the  universe  the  handiwork  of  God  ?  If  you  do  not 
believe  the  Church,  believe,  at  least,  the  teaching  of 
the  wondrous,  of  the  magnificent  Creator. 

THE   BLESSED  TRINITY. 

We  learn  from  Divine  Revelation,  and  from  the 
teaching  of  the  infallible  Church,  that  in  this  one  God, 
there  are  three  Divine  persons;  the  Father,  the  Son, 
and  the  Holy  Ghost,  really  distinct  and  equal  in  all 
things;  in  eternity,  in  wisdom,  in  power,  in  goodness, 
in  all  perfections.  We  believe  mysteries  of  religion 
though  we  do  not  understand  them;  we  believe  them 
because  God  has  revealed  them.  They  are  above 
reason,  not  contrary  to  it.  A  child  of  a  few  years 
cannot  be  taught  the  intricacies  of  science,  or  the 
structure  of  language,  not  because  of  the  knowledge, 
but  because  of  the  child's  undeveloped  intellect.  The 
mystery  of  the  Blessed  Trinity  towers  above  the 
intellect  of  man. 

The  following  story  is  told,  which  perhaps  may  not 
be  true,  but  whether  true  or  not,  it  pleasingly 
illustrates  the  subject.— A  certain  bishop  about  to 
preach  or  write  on  the  mystery  of  the  Blessed  Trinity, 
thought  deeply  on  the  subject,  as  he  paced  up  and 
down  by  the  silent  seashore,  silent  save  in  the  voice  of 


-«  77^5"  BLESSED  TRINITY. 

its  waves.  As  he  pondered  yet  more  and  more,  he 
perceived  a  charming  little  boy,  moving  to  and  from 
i:he  edge  of  the  ocean,  bearing  in  his  hands  a  tiny  shell 
filled  with  the  sea-water  which  he  poured  into  an 
■opening  that  he  had  made  in  the  sand.  "Little  boy," 
said  the  bishop,  "what  are  you  trying  to  do?"  "I  am 
trying  to  pour  the  whole  ocean  into  the  opening  in  the 
sand,"  replied  the  little  boy.  The  bishop  smiled  and 
said,  "  Child,  you  never  could  do  that,  you  never 
<:ould  pour  the  waters  of  the  ocean  into  that  little 
space. ' '  *  'Bishop' '  replied  the  graceful  child,  *  'I  could 
much  more  easily  pour  the  waters  of  the  ocean  into 
that  little  space,  than  you  could  grasp  the  great  mys- 
tery of  the  Blessed  Trinity  with  your  little  mind." 
The  child  disappeared.  The  astonished  bishop  re- 
turned to  his  home,  thanking  God  for  the  favor  and 
the  lesson  of  the  celestial  visitor. 

We  ought  not  to  be  surprised  that  there  are  heavenly 
mysteries,  inasmuch  as  we  live  amid  numberless 
mysteries  of  earth.  We  believe  that  we  sleep,  speak, 
think,  yet  we  do  not  understand  how  we  sleep,  how 
-we  speak,  how  we  think.  One  studying  music  must 
:spend  years  at  the  key -board  of  the  piano,  before  ease 
in  playing  is  acquired,  yet  without  training,  the  lips, 
teeth,  tongue,  throat  and  palate  form  words  with  ease, 
and  utter  them  in  quick  succession.  We  partake  of  a 
meal,  and  after  some  lapse  of  time,  the  meats  are 
changed  into  flesh,  blood,  skin,  bone,  muscles,  sinew, 
hair  and  nail.  We  plant  a  grain  of  corn,  and  it  pro- 
•duces  many  grains.  We  sow  flower  seed,  and  as  they 
grow,  the  sun  paints  one,  white,  another,  red;  a  third, 
purple;  whilst  the  grass  charms  the  eye  with  its  vivid 
:green.      As  man  is  incapable   of  understanding   the 


THE  BLESSED  TRINITY,  7 

mysteries  of  nature,  why  then  should  he  be  surprised 
at  not  understanding  heavenly  ones? 

In  the  Creed  ascribed  to  St.  Athanasius  we  read, 
*'  Now  the  Catholic  Faith  is  this;  that  we  worship  one 
God  in  Trinity,  and  Trinity  in  Unity. 

Neither  confounding  the  Persons,  nor  dividing  the 
substance.  For  there  is  one  Person  of  the  Father, 
another  of  the  Son,  another  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

But  the  Godhead  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son, 
and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  all  one;  the  glory  equal, 
the  majesty  co-eternal. 

Such  as  the  Father  is,  such  is  the  Son,  and  such  is 
the  Holy  Ghost. 

The  Father  uncreated,  the  Son  uncreated,  the  Holy 
Ghost  uncreated. 

The  Father  incomprehensible,  the  Son  incompre- 
hensible, the  Holy  Ghost  incomprehensible. 

The  Father  eternal,  the  Son  eternal,  the  Holy  Ghost 
eternal. 

And  yet  they  are  not  three  eternals,  but  one  eter- 
nal. As  also  they  are  not  three  uncreated,  nor  three 
incomprehensibles;  but  one  uncreated  and  one  incom- 
prehensible. 

In  like  manner  the  Father  is  almighty,  the  Son 
almighty,  the  Holy  Ghost  almighty. 

And  yet  they  ar«  not  three  almighties,  but  one 
almighty.  So  the  Father  is  God,  the  Son  God,  and 
the  Holy  Ghost  God. 

And  yet  they  are  not  three  Gods,  but  one  God. 

So  likewise  the  Father  is  Lord,  the  Son  is  Lord, 
and  the  Holy  Ghost  is  Lord. 

And  yet  they  are  not  three  Lords,  but  one  Lord. 
For  like  as  we  are  compelled  by  the  Christian  verity 


8  THE  BLESSED  TRINITY. 

to  acknowledge  every  person  by  himself  to  be  God  and 
Lord.  So  we  are  forbidden  by  the  Catholic  religion  to 
say  there  are  three  Gods  or  three  Lords. 

As  Sunday  is  dedicated  to  the  Blessed  Trinity,  we 
ought  to  say,  occasionally  at  least,  on  that  day  the 
prayer  termed  the  doxology:  ''Glory  be  to  the  Father, 
and  to  the  Son,  and  to  the  Holy  Ghost.  As  it  was  in 
the  beginriing,  is  now  and  ever  shall  be,  world  with- 
out end,     Amen.'' 

CREATION. 

ANGELS. 

The  great  Being  of  whom  we  have  treated,  one  God 
in  three  Divine  persons,  lived  by  himself  from  all  eter- 
nity. In  Himself  He  enjoyed  infinite  happiness.  In 
Him  were  centred  all  perfections;  goodness,  mercy, 
justice,  holiness,  beauty,  truth,  wisdom,  independ- 
ence, immensity,  liberty,  immutability;  yet  these 
words  express  but  faintly  the  character  of  the  Al- 
mighty God.  The  combined  knowledge  of  heaven 
and  earth  is  but  an  atom  in  His  omniscience;  the  daz- 
zling splendor  of  heaven  and  earth  but  a  sparkle  of 
His  beauty;  the  concentrated  kindness  of  all  mothers 
but  a  drop  in  the  infinite  deeps  of  the  ocean  of  His 
mercy.  Living  by  Himself,  He  was  infinitely  happy, 
yet  it  pleased  Him  to  create  that  He  might  scatter 
happiness  around  Him.  However,  His  happiness  in 
no  way  depended  on  the  happiness  or  unhappiness  of 
creatures.  If  all  were  lost,  their  loss  could  not  lessen 
in  the  smallest  degree  the  essential  happiness  of  God; 
if  all  were  saved  their  united  Te  Deums  could  not  add 
one  particle  to  the  same  essential  happiness.  God 
created  through  love,  and  through  love  only. 


CREATION.  ^ 

How  wonderful,  how  powerful  is  God!  During  an 
eternity  silence  reigned,  no  footfall  of  time.  It  then 
pleased  God  to  speak.  God  speaks.  *'Let  there  be 
light,"  and  instantly  whole  armies  of  most  beautiful 
creatures — angels — sprang  into  existence.  Armies,  it 
is  the  general  opinion  that  in  the  ninth  choir  alone 
there  are  more  angels  than  there  will  be  men.  from 
Adam  to  the  day  of  doom. 

The  nine  choirs  are  divided  into  three  hierarchies. 
The  first,  the  Seraphim  inflamed  with  love;  the  sec- 
ond, the  Cherubim,  glorious  for  supernatural  science; 
the  third,  the  Thrones,  eminent  for  especial  submis- 
sion to  the  Divine  Will.  The  second  hierarchy;  The 
Dominations  filled  with  zeal  for  the  Kingdom  of  God; 
the  Virtues,  replete  with  invincible  force  in  the  ser- 
vice of  God;  the  Powers,  possessed  of  marvelous  be- 
nignity. The  third  hierarchy:  The  Principalities,  em- 
inent for  purity  of  intention;  the  Archangels,  lovely 
for  their  peculiar  participation  in  the  virtues,  both  of 
their  superiors  and  inferiors;  the  Angels  delightful  to 
God  from  the  humility  with  which  they  govern  the 
world. 

The  angels  are  spiritual  substances.  They  are  not 
burdened  with  corruptible  bodies  and  in  this  are  supe* 
rior  to  man.  The  substance  of  the  angels  is  the  most 
subtle  in  the  world.  They  are  more  spiritual  than  the 
soul,  yet  they  are  gross  and  material  as  compared  with 
God.  People  object  that  the  angels  cannot  be  seen, 
and  therefore  ought  not  to  be  believed  in.  but  we 
should  remember  that  the  finer  parts  even  of  matter 
are  not  visible  even  to  our  best  optical  instruments. 
We  do  not  see  the  air,  light  or  eleclricity.  why  then 
wonder  at  not  seeing  the  spiritual  sub&tance  of  the 


10  CREATION. 

angels?  Their  substance  is  the  most  noble  after  that 
of  God,  and  so  their  understanding  is  the  most  subtle. 
They  have  wonderful  knowledge  of  the  secrets  of 
nature.  Art,  science,  language,  medicine  are  open 
books  to  them.  They  need  but  glance  to  know.  Their 
knowledge  is  intuitive  and  derived  from  the  Beatific 
Vision.  But  they  do  not  know  all.  They  do  not  know 
future  events  by  their  natural  science,  nor  the  secrets 
of  hearts  unless  these  are  betrayed  by  brain  or  other 
reflectors.  The  deep  mysteries  wound  up  with  the 
Incarnation  are  unknown  to  them  also.  When  created, 
they  were  resplendent  with  sanctifying  grace,  and  with 
the  infused  virtues  of  faith,  hope  and  charity.  The 
Blessed  Trinity,  Incarnation,  future  events  and  eternal 
punishment  were  revealed  to  them.  They  speak  to 
one  another  by  their  wills.  Our  mode  of  speaking  is 
much  less  perfect,  as  we  have  to  use  lips,  tongue,  teeth, 
throat,  palate.  They  ask  light  of  those  above  them, 
and  communicate  it  to  those  below  them.  They  have 
charge  of  the  heavenly  bodies;  sun,  stars,  planets, 
comets  are  under  their  care. 

The  angels  at  their  creation  were  simply  magnifi- 
'^cent  in  the  splendor  of  sanctifying  grace.  The  sun  in 
its  noonday  brightness  was  but  darkness  compared 
with  the  radiance  of  the  least  among  them.  However, 
they  did  not  enjoy  the  Beatific  Vision,  and  having  free 
will  could  sin.  It  pleased  the  good  God  to  give  them 
a  time  of  probation  as  He  gives  to  men,  but  a  large 
number  of  them  were  proud,  and  so  failed  in  the  test. 
The  veil  of  time  was  lifted  up  and  looking  forward, 
they  beheld  the  Babe  of  Bethlehem  lying  on  a  little 
straw  in  the  manger  of  a  poor  stable.  They  were 
called  upon  to  make  an  act  of  faith,  and  an  act  of  ador- 


ANGELS.  11 

ation,  but  like  the  infidel  of  to-day,  refused  in  the 
spirit  of  pride.  Immediately,  sanctifying  grace  de- 
parted; the  splendor  became  dim;  deep  darkness  encir- 
cled them;  they  were  forever  shut  out  from  the  Beat- 
ific Vision;  black  despair  so  took  possession  of  them, 
as  to  become  an  eternal  companion.  It  is  the  teaching 
of  very  famous  theologians  that  the  fall  of  the  angels 
had  its  origin  in  the  revelation  to  them,  of  the  Mys- 
tery of  the  Incarnation. 

In  some  respects  men  are  inferior  to  angels;  in 
others,  superior.  Men  are  inferior  in  natural  gifts. 
No  man  could  do  by  human  power  that  which  the  angel 
Raphael  did  by  angelic  power:  who  proved  himself  to 
be  a  physician  of  the  soul;  who  restored  sight  to  the 
blind,  venerable  Tobias;  who  knew  the  secret  powers  of 
nature;  who  troubled  the  waters  of  Bethsaida;  and  who 
bound  Satan  in  the  desert.  Men  are  superior  to  angels 
in  this  particular,  that  human  nature  has  been  won- 
drously  dignified  by  its  assumption  into  the  Godhead. 
The  eternal,  omnipotent  God  by  an  infinite  condescen- 
sion that  St.  Paul  terms  annihilation,  incorporated 
Himself  with  a  human  babe,  and  so  exalted  man.  that 
the  brilliance  of  the  highest  angel  dwindles  by  co  m- 
parison  into  insignificance.  Angels  and  men  arc  equal, 
in  having  Almighty  God  for  their  Creator;  in  sharing 
equally  in  a  life  that  will  never  end;  and  in  being  fel- 
low citizens  of  the  Paradise  of  God. 

The  angels  have  not  only  charge  of  the  material 
universe,  but  are  also  the  guardians  of  men,  infusing 
good  thoughts,  protecting  in  danger,  and  praying  for 
those  intrusted  to  them.  Each  one  has  his  guardian 
angel.  They  begin  their  charge  at  the  time  of  concep- 
tion, and  continue  to  the  last  expiring  sigh.     They  do 


12  CREATION. 

SO  most  affectionately,  with  wonderful  -^eal,  with  per- 
petual joy. 

We  should  cultivate  therefore  a  deep  affection  for 
our  guardian  angel,  because  Almighty  God  has 
deputed  him  to  assist  us  continually;  because  he  has 
taken  charge  of  us  with  a  most  tender  love,  beyond 
that  of  father,  mother,  brother  or  sister;  because  he 
never  abandons  us  for  a  single  moment  although  we 
may  totally  forget  him;  because  he  has  taken  a  most 
particular  care  of  us  when  we  were  children;  because 
he  acts  continually  as  our  master;  from  him  come  good 
thoughts,  inspirations,  lights  and  hints  that  lead  us 
on  to  salvation;  because  he  is  always  endeavoring  to 
incline  our  will  to  good  works;  because  by  his  power 
he  is  always  removing  the  obstacles  that  stand  in  the 
way  of  perfection;  because  in  those  occasions  of  sin 
that  meet  us  without  any  fault  of  ours,  he  assists  us, 
and  gives  us  interior  warnings;  because  he  bridles  the 
force  of  the  devils  that  they  may  not  tempt  us  beyond 
our  power;  because  in  troubles  of  spirit  and  sufferings 
of  body,  he  assists  us  to  suffer  patiently;  because 
when  we  invoke  him  in  our  doubts,  he  always  gives 
us  counsel;  because  he  prays  continually  for  us,  and 
offers  our  prayers  to  God;  because  he  is  never  dis- 
turbed, neither  does  he  abandon  us  when  we  fall  into 
sin;  because  he  assists  us  at  our  death  with  a  most 
diligent  solicitude.* 

We  should  never  neglect  to  make  a  loving  act  of 
thanksgiving  to  him,  morning  and  evening. 
EVII.  SPIRITS. 

Not  only  are  there  blessed  spirits  who  watch  over 
and  protect  us,  but  there  are  evil  spirits — the  fallen 
angels — who  are  jealous  of  man,  because  Almighty 
^Faber.     Notes  on  Doctrinal  Subjects. 


ANGELS.  13 

God  in  the  person  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  assumed 
human  nature  in  preference  to  the  angelic.  Just  as 
He  preferred  the  poverty  of  the  little  Bethlehem  to 
the  splendor  of  imperial  Rome;  so  He  incorporated 
Himself  with  poor  humanity,  in  preference  to  the 
brilliance  of  the  Seraph.  The  fallen  angels  are  but 
creatures,  and  like  other  creatures  are  influenced  by 
jealousy.  Their  places  in  Paradise  are  to  be  occupied 
by  beings  lower  than  themselves,  hence  the  effort  to 
prevent  this  by  causing  men  to  rebel  against  God  as 
they  did. 

Some  very  prominent  men  have  rendered  themselves 
despicable  by  their  mean  jealousy  of  others.  Plato 
never  deigned  to  notice  Zenophon,  and  Zenophon  was 
continually  carping  at  Plato.  Plato  wrote  better. 
When  Racine  read  his  first  tragedy,  Corneille  advised 
him  never  to  write  another.  Boccaccio  offered 
Petrarch  a  copy  of  Dante;  Petrarch  refused  to  look  at 
it.  Hegel  could  not  bear  to  hear  the  name  of  Schopcn- 
hauser.  The  higher  the  faculty  of  mind;  the  deeper 
seems  the  spirit  of  jealousy. 

The  enemies  of  the  Church  know  well  the  impor- 
tance of  denying  the  existence  of  evil  spirits.  * 'Satan 
is  all  Christianity,"  said  Voltaire,  meaning  thereby 
that  if  people  believed  in  evil  spirits,  it  would  tend  to 
make  them  think  seriously  of  eternal  things. 

The  Holy  Scripture  clearly  and  abundantly  teaches 
this  doctrine: — "Then  was  brought  unto  Him  one 
possessed  with  a  devil,  blind  and  dumb:  and  He 
healed  him.  so  that  he  both  spoke  and  saw."  iS. 
Matth,   12-22. 

"And  lo,  a  spirit  seizeth  him,  and  he  suddenly 
crieth  out,  and  he  throweth  him  down,  and  teareth 


14  CREATION. 

him;  so  that  he  foameth,   and  bruising  him,   hardly 
departeth  from  him."     5*.  Luke,  9-39. 

"And  when  evening  was  come,  they  brought  ta 
Him  many  that  were  possessed  with  devils:  and  He 
cast  out  the  spirit  with  his  word,  and  all  that  were 
sick  He  healed."     S,  Mdtth,  8-16. 

"And  when  they  were  gone  out,  behold,  they 
brought  to  Him,  a  dumb  man  possessed  with  a  devil. 
And  the  devil  being  cast  out,  the  dumb  man  spoke, 
and  the  multitude  wondered,  saying:  "The  like  was 
never  seen  in  Israel."     6*.  Matth.  9.    . 

"And  when  He  had  called  His  twelve  disciples 
together,  he  gave  them  power  over  unclean  spirits,  to 
cast  them  out,  and  to  heal  all  manner  of  diseases,  and 
to  heal  all  manner  of  sicknesses." 

"And  He  gave  them  power  to  heal  sicknesses  and 
to  cast  out  devils." 

"Then  having  called  together  the  twelve  apostles, 
He  gave  them  power  and  authority  over  all  devils, 
and  to  cure  diseases."     ^.  Luke,  9  i. 

"And  the  seventy-two  returned  with  joy,  saying: 
Lord,  the  devils  also  are  subject  to  us  in  Thy  name.^' 
"And  God  wrought  special  miracles  by  the  hand  of 
Paul.  So  that  even  there  were  brought  from  his 
body  to  the  sick,  handkerchiefs  and  aprons,  and  the 
diseases  departed  from  them,  and  the  wicked  spirits 
went  out  of  them.  Now  some  of  the  Jewish  exorcists 
who  went  about,  attempted  to  invoke  over  them  that 
had  evil  spirits,  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  saying: 
I  conjure  you  by  Jesus  whom  Paul  preacheth.  And 
there  were  certain  men,  seven  sons  of  Sceva  a  Jew,  a 
chief  priest,  who  did  this-  But  an  evil  spirit  answer- 
ing, said  to  them:     Jesus  I  know  and  Paul  I  know;. 


ANGELS.  15 

but  who  are  you  ?  And  the  man  in  whom  the  evil 
spirit  was,  leaping  upon  them,  and  mastering  them 
both,  prevailed  against  them,  so  that  they  fled  out  of 
that  house  naked  and  wounded."  Acts.  19-11  to  16. 
The  evil  spirits  though  cast  out  of  heaven  yet  pos- 
sess the  natural  powers  of  the  angel,  and  so  are  vastly 
superior  to  man  in  science,  language,  literature,  medi- 
cine; in  a  word,,  in  all  created  knowledge.  As  when 
a  military  officer  is  degraded  and  can  no  longer  wear 
tte  golden  epaulette  or  badge  of  honor,  yet  does  not 
thereby  lose  the  knowledge  he  had  previously  attained; 
so  the  spirits  of  evil,  though  deprived  of  the  splendors 
with  which  they  had  been  endowed,  yet  retain  their 
angelic  knowledge.  Hence  they  can  transform  them- 
selves, and  assume  any  form  they  please,  using  the 
air,  light,  and  other  latent  means,  in  ways  that  we 
know  not  of.  We  are  not  to  be  surprised  at  this,  as 
even  men  can  effect  wonders  by  means  of  matter.  The 
sculptor  takes  a  block  of  rough  marble,  unsightly  in 
shape,  and  using  his  chisel,  little  by  little,  and  stroke 
by  stroke,  the  graceful  form  of  some  hero  is  evolved — 
Washington,  Grant,  Lee,  present  themselves.  The 
artist  with  brush  and  color  lights  up  the  plain  canvass 
with  forms  of  beauty;  the  grapes  depend  in  clusters 
from  the  vine;  the  flower  seems  to  need  only  fragrance 
to  prove  its  reality;  the  human  figures  painted  by  the 
"Great  Masters"  seem  almost  to  look,  to  speak,  to 
listen;  the  photographer  grasps  the  solar  ray,  and  in- 
stantaneously outlines  his  picture.  What  wonder, 
then,  that  with  angelic  art,  Satan  can  assume  mate- 
rial forms  at  pleasure. 

In  ancient  times  people  believed  in  being^s  possessed 
of  knowledge  that  could  not  be  acquired  by  natural 


16  CREA  TION. 

means,  and  under  the  name  of  oracles  had  recourse  for 
information  through  them  to  none  other  than  evil 
spirits.  Classic  Greece  was  famed  for  its  oracles. 
That  at  Delphi  was  the  most  famous.  Delphi  was  an 
ancient  city  of  Phocis  in  Achaia.  It  stood  upon  the 
middle  of  the  side  of  Mount  Parnassus  on  some  even 
ground,  surrounded  by  precipices.  An  exhalation 
arose  from  a  cavity  in  the  mountain  that  seemed  to 
intoxicate  those  who  inhaled  it.  A  shepherd  having 
approached  it  was  seized  with  violent  bodily  agitation, 
and  began  to  pronounce  words  that  he  himself  did  not 
understand,  especially  because  they  related  to  futurity. 
After  this  occurrence  the  cave  was  approached  with 
fear  and  a  certain  reverence.  The  vapor  was  believed 
to  be  of  the  other  world.  A  priestess  was  appointed, 
who,  influenced  by  the  exhalation  of  the  cave,  an- 
swered all  manner  of  questions.  Of  course  she  was 
but  the  agent  of  the  evil  spirits  who  hovered  about 
Parnassus.  The  city  of  Delphi  rose  insensibly  around 
this  cave,  and  a  temple  was  erected,  which  afterwards 
became  very  magnificent.  This  temple  having  been 
burned,  the  Amphyctrions,  celebrated  judges  of  Greece, 
rebuilt  it,  at  a  cost  of  about  two  hundred  thousand 
dollars  of  our  money.  It  became  enriched  with  an 
almost  incredible  number  of  presents.  Princes,  cities, 
and  private  persons,  had  heaped  up  in  it  tripods,  vases, 
tablets,  shields,  crowns,  chariots,  and  statues  of  gold 
and  silver  of  all  sizes.  According  to  Herodotus,  Croe- 
sus, King  of  Lydia,  alone  made  presents  of  gold  to  the 
value  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  and 
of  silver  to  about  the  same  amount.  Among  the 
statues  of  gold  presented  by  Croesus  was  that  of  his 
cook.     Alyattes,  the  father  of  Croesus,  married  a  sec- 


ORACLES.  17 

ond  wife,  who  resolved  upon  the  death  of  Croesus, 
that  the  crown  might  descend  to  one  of  her  own  chil- 
dren. For  this  purpose  she  engaged  the  cook  to  place 
poison  in  a  loaf  prepared  for  the  prince's  table.  The 
cook  being  a  tender-hearted  woman  was  horrified,  and 
gave  notice  to  Croesus.  The  loaf  was  then  served  to 
her  own  children,  who  were  poisoned,  thus  leaving  the 
crown  to  its  rightful  owner.  When  he  ascended  the 
throne,  in  gratitude  to  his  benefactress,  he  erected  a 
statue  to  her  memory  in  the  temple  of  Delphi. 

If  asked  why  the  evil  spirits  selected  this  spot,  we 
can  only  suppose  that  as  birds  of  prey  are  attracted  by 
the  odor  of  the  decomposing  carcass,  so  some  cause 
unknown  to  us,  attracted  the  evil  spirits;  or,  it  may  be 
that  the  cave  around  which  the  temple  was  built,  was 
an  outlet  of  their  infernal  home.  The  answers  were 
in  many  cases,  mere  guesses,  but  frequently  the  guesses 
proved  true.  Again  not  unfrequently  the  answers 
were  ambiguous,  and  could  bear  opposite  meanings,  so 
as  to  be  truthful  in  one  or  the  other  meaning  attached. 
Let  us  remark  that  even  men  can  in  many  cases,  guess 
the  future  with  a  becoming  amount  of  certitude. 
Thus  the  skilful  physician  in  a  Urge  number  of  cases, 
foresees  the  certain  nearness  of  death;  the  meteorolo- 
gist gives  notice  of  the  coming  storm;  the  astronomer 
can  foretell  the  time  of  the  coming  eclipse  with  aston- 
i.shing  accuracy. 

The  atmosphere  is  well  peopled  with  evil  spirits. 
St.  Paul  speaks  of  the  "spirits  of  wickedness  in  the 
high  places."  They  can  communicate  with  one  an- 
other with  a  speed  unknown  to  us.  Telegraphy  is 
slowness  compared  with  their  messages.  We  can  com- 
municate with  a  friend  in  a  distant  land  by  telegram 


18  ORACLES. 

in  a  short  time;  a  spirit  can  communicate  inslantane-  , 
ously. 

The  Roman  emperor,  Trajan,  had  experience  of  this. 
Hearing  wonderful  things  of  the  Oracle  at  Heliopolis, 
he  determined  to  test  it,  and  summoning  a  trusty  offi- 
cer, handed  to  him  a  sealed  packet,  to  be  laid  on  the 
altar;  to  await  a  reply;  and  to  see  that  the  seal  remained 
unbroken.  The  packet  contained  a  blank  parchment, 
and  had  rested  on  the  aliar  only  a  little  time  and  in 
presence  of  the  officer,  when  another  sealed  packet 
of  like  size  was  placed  by  its  side.  The  officer  bore 
the  reply  to  the  emperor.  Trajan  was  amazed  on 
opening  the  reply,  to  find  it  blank  also.  Tertullian 
explains  the  fact  by  saying  that  the  evil  spirits  of  Rome 
and  Heliopolis  communicated  instantaneously  with  one 
another. 

Answers  were  ambiguous  or  evasive,  when  the  evil 
spirit  could  not  guess  with  some  degree  of  certitude. 
It  happened  once  that  Thebes  in  Egypt,  was  visited  by 
an  epidemic  that  swept  off  numbers  of  the  people.  A 
delegation  was  immediately  sent  to  ask  a  remedy  from 
the  Oracle.  Gifts  were  laid  on  the  altar,  and  a  petition 
beseeching  a  cure.  The  sickness  being  a  Divine  mess- 
enger sent  for  the  occasion,  the  Oracle  could  not  pre- 
scribe a  cure,  but  delivered  an  answer  involving  a 
mathematical  puzzle,  that  has  never  yet  been  solved. 
"Go  back"  was  the  answer  "and  erect  an  altar  in 
your  temple,  twice  the  size  of  the  present  one."  The 
delegation  returned.  The  altar  in  the  temple  of  Thebes 
was  a  perfect  cube:  a  new  one  was  quickly  erected, 
twice  the  height,  length  ahd  breadth.  The  plague 
continued  to  rage.  Messengers  were  quickly  dispatched 
to  state  the  failure  of  the  remedy  given.     "You  have 


ORACLES,  19 

built  an  altar,  eight  times  the  size,  not  twice,"  replied 
the  oracle.  From  that  day  to  this,  no  mathematician 
has  succeeded  in  doubling  a  cube.  In  theory  it  is  still 
unsolved;  practically  it  can  only  be  approximated.  The 
devil  is  a  good  mathematician. 

The  answers  were  frequently  ambiguous.  When 
Croesus  was  about  to  invade  Media,  he  consulted  the 
Oracle  at  Delphi  to  know  if  he  would  be  victor.  The 
Oracle  replied  that  if  he  passed  the  river  Halys,  he 
would  ruin  a  great  empire.  Which  Empire?  The 
answer  would  suit  Cyrus  as  well  as  Croesus.  Also 
Pyrrhus,  king  of  Epirus,  about  to  attack  the  Romans, 
received  the  following  reply:  "Thee  to  subdue  the 
Romans  I  appoint."  Place  a  comma  after  **Thee," 
Pyrrhus  would  conquer;  place  a  comma  after* 'subdue,** 
the  Romans  should  conquer.  The  exact  words  were: 
''Aio  te  Aeacida  Ro7?ianos  vincere  posse,'' 

The  pagans  of  old  believed  'in  the  apparition  of  spir- 
its. An  ancient  Latin  writer  tells  us  that  the  Roman 
general  Drusus  when  about  to  cross  the  Rhine  was 
met  by  a  spirit  under  the  form  of  a  woman  who  said 
to  him.  "Whereto,  Drusus?  Back!  The  end  of  thy 
deeds  and  life  is  near."  Drusus  terrified,  returned 
immediately,  but  died  before  reaching  the  Rhine. 

The  old  Greek  biographer,  Plutarch,  tells  us  that 
Brutus,  who  stabbed  Julius  Caesar,  heard  a  noise  at 
the  door  of  his  tent  on  a  certain  night  and  looking  saw 
the  figure  of  a  man  of  prodigious  height  and  terrible 
countenance.  Brutus,  struck  with  astonishment, 
was  silent.  The  giant  stood  by  his  bed  in  silence  also. 
Brutus  at  length  speaks,  "who  art  thou  ?"  "I  am  thy 
evil  genius,  Brutus,  thou  shalt  see  me  at  Philippi.*' 
Brutus  boldly  answered,  "I'll  meet  thee  there."     The 


20  SPIRITUALISM. 

giant  spectre  appeared  a  second  time  the  night  before 
the  second  battle,  but  spoke  not  a  word.  Brutus 
defeated  at  Philippi  by  Antony  and  Octavianus,  ended 
his  life  by  falling  upon  his  own  sword.  Plutarch 
writes  as  if  he  himself  believed  in  the  apparition. 

The  spiritualism  of  to-day  is  another  proof  of  the 
existence  of  spirits.  Of  course,  there  is  a  great  deal 
of  deceit  and  imposition,  yet  we  cannot  reasonably 
doubt  that  in  many  cases,  spirits  have  appeared  to 
those  using  incantations.  The  spiritualism  of  to-day 
is  simply  the  necromancy  forbidden  in  the  book  of 
Deuteronomy:  ** Neither  let  there  be  found  among  you 
any  one  that  shall  expiate  his  son  or  daughter,  making 
them  to  pass  through  the  fire,  or  that  consulteth  sooth- 
sayers, or  observeth  dreams  and  omens,  neither  let 
there  be  any  wizard.'* 

**Nor  charmer,  nor  any  one  that  consulteth  pythonic 
spirits,  or  fortune  tellers,  or  that  seeketh  the  truth 
from  the  dead."     Z?^w/.  xviii,  lo-ii. 

To  spiritualists  the  dead  do  not  appear,  but  are  per- 
sonated by  evil  spirits,  who  because  of  their  state  and 
intelligence — as  has  been  adverted  to  before—have 
facilities  for  knowing  the  circumstances  of  families, 
and  of  giving  secret  information  concerning  them. 

Moreover,  both  in  Europe  and  America,  many  men 
of  eminent  intelligence  and  social  position,  who  inves- 
tigated spiritualism,  thinking  it  a  delusion  or  a  cheat, 
became  thoroughly  convinced  of  the  reality  of  many 
apparitions,  from  undeniable  facts,  so  proved,  as  to 
exclude  any  possible  fraud.  Among  the  many,  the 
following  are  named:  T-  W.  Edmonds,  New  York, 
Judge  of  Supreme  Court  and  ex-Senator;  Robert  Hare, 
M.  D.,  Professor  of  Chemistry  in  the  University  of 


SPIRITUALISM.  «1 

Pennsylvania;  Nathaniel  Talmadge,  ex- Governor  of 
Wisconsin;  George  Bancroft,  the  great  American  his- 
torian; Horace  Greely;  Robert  Dale  Owen;  Longfellow 
and  Bryant,  the  poets;  Fennimore  Cooper;  the  Angli- 
can Archbishop  Whately;  Lord  Lindsay;  Lord  Lytton; 
William  Ewart  Gladstone;  Alfred  Russell  Wallace,  the 
famous  English  naturalist;  the  English  Professors: 
Challis,  Huggins,  Gregory,  Mayo,  De  Morgan,  Wil- 
liam Crookes;  the  English  Doctors  of  Medicine:  Elliot- 
son,  Haddock,  Cameron;  the  English  Jurists:  Rob, 
Chambers  and  Cox;  the  English  writers:  Thackeray, 
Trollope,  Owen,  Howitt,  Hall;  and  Varley,  the  elec- 
trician. 

It  seems  as  if  Almighty  God,  in  permitting  those 
manifestations,  would  say  to  unbelievers,  **Yon  have 
no  excuse  left  for  your  infidelity.  If  you  do  not 
believe  the  Church,  believe  at  least  from  the  testimony 
of  your  own  eyes  and  ears,  that  there  is  a  spirit-land — 
one  that  you  yourselves  will  soon  enter." 

APPARITIONS. 

Well-attested  apparitions  to  holy  persons  have  been 
so  numerous,  that  the  recital  of  them  all  would 
necessitate  many  volumes.  So  many  and  so  grave 
are  the  testimonies,  both  heathen  and  Christian,  lo  the 
reality  of  apparitions,  that  even  the  cautious  Cardinal 
Bona  says,  'It  is  wonderful  how  any  man  of  sane 
mind  can  be  found  to  deny  them,  or  ascribe  them  to  a 
dehided  imagination."     Let  us  hear  the  following: 

Peter  the  Venerable  relates  a  vision  which  he  had 
at  Rome  in  the  monastery  of  Santa  Maria  Nuova. 
William,  the  late  Prior  of  Cluni,  who  had  shortly 
before  died,  appeared  to  him,  and  spoke,  in  reply  to 
the  questions  put  to  him  by  the  abbott,  respecting  bis 


22  APPARITIONS. 

own  happy  state,  the  vision  of  God,  the  certainty  of 
the  Christian  faith,  and  the  cause  of  his  own  death, 
which  he  affirmed,  weeping,  to  have  been  by  poison: 
*'So  it  was  afterwards  proved"  he  adds  "on  my  return 
to  France,  by  the  public  confession  of  the  prisoner. 
During  all  the  time  that  this  vision  lasted,  I  felt 
conscious  that  I  was  not  sleeping,  and  I  proposed  my 
questions  in  the  shortest  manner  possible,  from  sup- 
posing that  he  could  not  remain  long  conversing  with 
the  living.     I  awoke  weeping." 

"I  know  it  to  be  true,"  says  St.  Vincentia,  "that  a 
soul  may  return,  for  I  had  been  defanied  by  a  certain 
detractor,  and  he  came,  after  death,  and  sought  my 
pardon." 

The  sister  of  St.  Thomas  of  Aquin,  abbess  of  St. 
Mary  at  Capua,  appeared  to  him  after  her  death,  and 
told  him  of  her  state  in  heaven,  and  of  the  condition 
of  his  two  brothers,  Andulph  being  still  in  purgatory, 
and  Raynald  already  in  paradise. 

Again,  one  night  as  the  Angelic  Doctor  prayed  in 
the  Church  of  St.  Dominic  at  Naples,  Father  Romain, 
to  whom  he  had  ceded  the  chair  of  theology  at  Paris, 
appeared  to  him  before  the  other  had  heard  of  his 
death,  and  told  him  that  he  was  amongst  the  blessed, 
and  answered  many  questions  of  St.  Thomas;  and  to 
his  query  respecting  heaven,  replied  "We  see,  as  we 
have  heard." 

Trithemius,  in  his  Chronicle  of  Hirschan,  relates 
the  following  occurrence  which  took  place  in  1321. 
Godfrid  was  a  dyer  in  the  town  of  Bruchsall  in  the 
diocese  of  Spire,  a  man  who  never  thought  about 
saving  his  soul.  Falling  sick  he  had  great  remorse 
and  profound  sorrow;  so  he  sent  for  a  priest,  to  whom 


APPARITIONS,  23 

he  made  a  devout  confession,  received  the  Communion, 
promising  aloud  to  do  penance,  if  God  should  spare 
him.  Relapsing  into  silence  about  an  hour  after,  he 
seemed  to  expire — this  was  about  seven  o'clock  in  the 
evening,  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  May.  As  the  night 
was  advancing,  they  would  not  bury  him  till  the  next 
day;  so  during  that  night  the  neighbors  assembled, 
and  sat  around  his  body,  which  was  placed  on  a  bier, 
and  talked  variously  about  the  state  of  his  soul.  At 
two  o'clock  in  the  morning  he  sat  up  and  said,  'O  God 
how  just  and  hidden  are  thy  judgments!  Blessed  be 
thy  name,  who  hath  been  merciful  to  me  penitent.' 

All  in  an  instant  fled;  some  through  the  window,  as 
the  door  was  too  small;  others  over  the  people's  heads, 
in  short  as  they  could.  Godfrid  rose,  went  into  the 
garden,  and  knelt  down  where  he  was  found  still 
kneeling  at  sunrise.  The  crowds  gathered  around, 
and  the  priest  who  had  heard  his  confession,  came 
and  said  'Godfrid  how  is  it  with  you?'  but  he  making 
the  cross  on  his  mouth  said  *0  woe,  woe!*  and  thus 
groaning  walked  to  the  Church  and  entered,  followed 
by  the  priest  and  all  the  people.  There  he  fell  prone 
on  the  pavement  before  the  altar,  with  arms  extended 
in  a  cross,  and  remained  two  hours.  Then  rising  up 
he  said  to  the  priest,  'What  doth  this  people  want  i^ 
*They  wish  to  know,'  replied  the  priest,  'whether  you 
were  really  dead,  or  where  you  were,  or  how  you  have 
come  back  to  life.'  To  whom  he  replied  'There  is  a 
time  for  speaking  and  a  time  for  silence:  let  them  go 
home  for  they  will  hear  nothing  from  me  at  present.' 
So  saying,  he  prostrated  himself  again  on  the  earth. 
The  people  by  the  priest's  order  left  the  Church,  all 
but  four  of  the  chief  inhabitants  with  three  priests: 


24  APPARITIONS. 

and  when  the  crowd  was  gone,  the  priest  charged 
Godfrid  on  obedience  to  speak.  *0  go<;d  men  of  God,' 
cried  he,  'if  I  had  one  hundred  mouths  and  as  many 
tongues,  I  could  not  relate  the  one-thousandth  part  of 
what  I  have  seen  and  heard  since  with  those  below. 
Yea,  I  was  dead,  and  for  penitence,  by  God's  mercy, 
permitted  to  return  to  the  body.  After  my  soul  with 
incredible  pressure  and  grief  had  gone  forth,  I  was 
presented  at  the  Divine  Judgment,  though  how  or 
by  whom  I  know  not.  So  full  of  sadness  was  I  that 
the  whole  world  could  not  contain  or  understand  it. 
All  the  sins  of  my  life,  to  the  very  least  were  clear 
and  open  before  me.  O  good  God,  what  confusion, 
what  immense  calamity  encompassed  me;  I  cannot  say, 
nor  without  unutterable  horror  think  of  it;  neither  can 
I  relate  what  was  said  to  me  by  the  Judge,  and  the 
surrounding  angels  and  the  demons,  for  it  was 
ineffable.  In  a  moment  I  was  in  the  place  of  eternal 
and  of  temporal  punishment.  I  saw  souls  in  hell  of 
whose  salvation  no  one  in  this  life  ever  doubted,  and 
I  saw  souls  in  purgatory  reserved  for  salvation,  whom 
the  judgment  of  men  had  pronounced  to  be  unques- 
tionably in  hell.  Think  not  that  the  disposition, 
quality,  and  mode  of  punishment  bore  any  resemblance 
to  what  painters  and  preachers  represent.  I  felt  that 
these  torments  could  never  be  expressed  by  signs  or 
tongues  of  men,  for  they  are  quite  beyond  what  the 
human  intelligence  can  conceive.  O!  I  would  rather 
weep  now  than  speak,  only  that  you  can  command 
me  on  obedience  to  speak.  O  misery  of  all  miseries! 
far  surpassing  all  thought;  how  horribly  and  unutter- 
ably aie  to  be  dreaded  the  torments  of  eternal  woe! 
for  the  perpetual   fire  of  hell  lasts  in  the   soul,  which 


APPARITIONS.  25 

is  always  agitated  with  a  fury  inconceivable,  always 
desolated  with  a  terrific  sadness;  always  associated 
with  restless  demons,  without  hope,  without  consola- 
tion, without  any  respite — only  every  thing  is  seen, 
and  heard,  and  felt  spiritually,  and  not  as  we  figure 
it.  And  now,  father,  that  I  have  obeyed  you.  and 
spoken,  spare  me,  and  yourself  from  henceforth,  for  I 
will  speak  of  it  no  more,  to  you  or  to  any  one. 
Endeavor  to  lead  the  people  to  repent,  and  preach  to 
them  what  you  think  useful. 

From  that  time  Godfrid  lived  twelve  years  in  such 
austerity  of  life,  that  no  one  could  doubt  but  that  he 
had  seen  what  he  had  said.  Winter  and  summer  he 
went  barefoot,  in  one  grey  vest  always  clad;  he  daily 
fasted  save  on  Sunday;  neither  ate  fish  nor  flesh;  would 
not  taste  wine;  injured  or  derided  was  always  silent, 
not  even  changing  countenance.  With  the  labor  of 
his  hands,  he  supported  his  wife  and  children,  he  em- 
ployed himself  constantly  in  prayer:  daily  before  the 
crucifix  he  knelt  and  gave  himself  stripes;  he  often 
confessed  and  daily  heard  Mass.  He  slept  on  the 
bare  ground,  with  a  stone  for  a  pillow;  and  solived  till 
his  death,  when  he  was  buried  in  the  parish  church, 
before  the  altar  of  St.   George. 

Though  this  story  need  not  be  believed,  yet  it  ought 
to  cause  people  to  reflect. 

As  the  evil  spirits  are  so  powerful,  and  endowed 
with  so  much  knowledge,  let  us  always  be  careful  to 
pray  in  the  time  of  temptation. 

CREATION. 

THK  WORLD. 

A  vast  array  of  brilliant  angels  fell  by  pride  and 


26  CREATION. 

disobedience;  thrones  of  glittering  light  became  vacant: 
then  the  great  Creator  sent  forth  another  7?<3^/.  "Let 
us  make  man  to  our  own  image  and  likeness."  But 
before  creating  man,  God  prepared  for  him  a  home. 
The  sun  in  its  golden  splendor;  the  silvery  moon;  the 
stellar  clusters;  the  azure  of  the  sky;  the  emerald  of  the 
fields;  the  tints  of  the  flowers;  the  song-birds;  moun- 
tain and  valley;  ocean  and  streamlet;  breeze  and  sun- 
shine; all  were  at-hand  when  man  stepped  into  crea- 
tion. 

Holy  Scripture  tells  us  that  it  pleased  God  to  use 
six  days  in  creating.  Some  have  supposed  these  days 
to  have  been  periods  of  time,  numbering  millions  on 
millions  of  years;  others,  that  they  were  days  of  ordi- 
nary length.  A  Catholic  is  at  liberty  to  adopt  either 
view,  as  the  Hebrew  word  signifying  day,  signifies  a 
period  also;  and  because  three  days  had  elapsed  before 
the  creation  of  the  sun  that  marks  the  length  of  the 
ordinary  day.  Geology  is  in  perfect  accord  with  the 
work  of  the  demiurgic  days,  no  matter  what  length 
may  be  attributed  to  them 

"The  short  account  of  the  creation  given  in  the  first 
chapter  of  Genesis  is  in  accordance  with  the  results  of 
geological  discovery,  in  as  complete  a  manner  as  would 
be  possible  in  so  brief  a  summary,  destined,  not  to 
instruct  the  world  in  geology,  but  without  violating 
truth,  to  convey  a  general  notion  of  the  work  of 
Omnipotence  in  the  process  of  creation.  lyight  was 
first  created,  that  is,  the  universally  diffused  ether,  by 
whose  properties,  not  only  light,  but  heat  and  proba- 
bly electricity  and  magnetism,  if  not  gravity  itself, 
severally  exist.  The  firmament  was  next  made,  that 
is,  space  and   the  stars  in  countless  numbers,  which 


THE  EARTH.  27 

occupy  it,  each  of  which  is  the  centre  of  attraction  to 
a  group  of  surrounding  bodies,  and  among  these  stars, 
the  sun." 

"According  to  Genesis,  the  organic  creation  was 
produced  in  four  successive  intervals  of  time,  figura- 
tively called  days  as  we  now  apply  that  term  to  any 
period  during  which  a  certain  succession  of  phenomena 
are  manifested.  Thus  we  speak  of  the  morning  and 
the  evening  of  life  " 

''The  first  epoch  was  preceded  by  the  formation  of 
the  outlines  of  land  and  water.  The  rupture  of  the 
incipient  crust  of  the  earth,  by  throwing  the  solid  sur- 
face into  different  levels,  divided  the  earth  into  oceans, 
seas,  continents  and  islands.  This  is  stated  briefly 
but  distinctly  enough  in  Gen.  ich,  9-10:  *And  God 
said.  Let  the  waters  under  the  heaven  be  gathered 
together  unto  one  place,  and  let  the  dry  land  appear, 
and  it  was  so.  And  God  called  the  dry  land  Earth, 
and  the  gathering  of  the  waters  called  the  Seas:  and 
God  saw  that  it  was  good.'  " 

**The  surface  of  the  land  was  now  clothed  with  veg- 
etation. Verses  11,  12:  *And  God  said,  Let  the  earth 
bring  forth  grass,  the  herb  yielding  seed,  and  the 
fruit-tree  yielding  fruit  after  its  kind,  whose  seed  is 
in  itself,  upon  the  earth,  and  it  was  so.  And  thetrarth 
brought  forth  gra.ss  and  herb,  yielding  seed  after  their 
kind,  an  I  the  tree  yieldin^^  fruit,  whose  seed  was  in 
itself  after  its  kind,  and  God  saw  that  it  was  good.* 

'*The  second  epoch  of  organic  creation  was  signal- 
ized by  the  production  of  animal  life  in  its  lowest  forma, 
being  limited  to  marine  tribes  included  under  the  gen- 
eral and  familiar  name  of  Fishes.  Verse  20:  *And 
God  said.  Let  the  waters  bring  forth  abundantly  after 


28  CREA  TION. 

their  kind.'  This  was  succeeded  by  the  creation  of 
Birds:  'And  every  winged  fowl  after  its  kind,  and 
God  saw  that  it  was  good.  And  God  blessed  them, 
saying,  Be  fruitful  and  multiply,  and  fill  the  waters  in 
the  seas,  and  let  fowl  multiply  in  the  earth.'  " 

*'In  complete  accordance  with  this  account,  geologi- 
cal researches  show,  that  in  the  stages  which  imme- 
diately rest  upon  the  azoic  formation,  beds  of  coal  are 
found,  proving  that  the  first  land  was  clothed  with 
vegetation.  The  animal  remains  found  in  the  same 
deposits,  consist  almost  exclusively  of  marine  tribes. 
Some  foot  tracks  of  birds  are  also  found  in  these  forma- 
tions. No  traces  of  land  animals  yet  appear.  Thus 
in  accordance  with  Genesis,  geology  announces  that  the 
first  acts  of  creation  were  the  production  of  'the  grass, 
the  herb  yielding  seed,  and  the  tree  yielding  fruit  after 
its  kind,'  and  then  the  Creator  caused  the  'waters  to 
bring  forth  abundantly  after  their  kind,'  and  called 
into  existence  every  winged  fowl  after  its  kind." 

The  third  epoch  of  creation  was  signalized  by  the 
production  of  Mammifers  and  of  land  animals  gener- 
ally. Verse  24:  'And  God  said,  Let  the  earth  bring 
forth  the  living  creature  after  its  kind,  cattle  and 
creeping  thing,  and  beasts  of  the  earth  after  its  kind, 
and  cattle  after  their  kind,  and  everything  that  creep- 
eth  upon  the  earth  after  its  kind,  and  God  saw  that  it 
was  good.'  " 

"The  later  geological  ages,  and  especially  the 
Tertiary,  are  here  indicated,  in  which,  the  tribes 
mentioned  in  this  short  and  popular  statement  were 
created." 

The  fourth,  last,  and  latest  great  act  of  Omnipo- 
tence was  the  creation  of  the  human  race.     On  the 


THE  EARTH,  29 

last  day  or  epoch  of  creation,  God  said:  "Let  us  make 
man  to  our  own  image,  after  our  likeness:  and  let  him 
have  dominion  over  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  over  the 
fowl  of  the  air,  and  over  the  cattle  of  the  field,  and 
over  all  the  earth,  and  over  every  creeping  thing  that 
creepeth  upon  the  earth.  So  God  created  man,  to  His 
own  image,  to  the  image  of  God  he  created  him; 
male  and  female  he  created  them.'  " 

**It  is,  perhaps,  in  this  last  part  of  the  Mosaic  nar- 
rative that  the  most  striking  and  interesting  accord- 
ance with  geological  science  is  observable.  According 
to  Genesis,  the  last  epoch  of  creation  was  exclusively 
given  to  the  creation  of  the  human  race.  Naturalists 
have  reduced  animal  forms  to  seventy- eight  orders,  in 
one  of  which  man  stands  alone.  It  appears  from  the 
researches  of  paleontologists  that  of  these  seventy- 
eight,  all  but  one,  that  including  man.  were  created 
before  the  close  of  the  Tertiary  period,  and  that  in  the 
creation  which  followed  that  period  man  was  the  only 
animal  order  added  to  those  of  former  creations. 

"I  have  thought  it  right  to  develop  these  points  at 
some  length,  inasmuch  as  many  consciences  have 
felt  alarmed  at  the  supposed  discordance  between 
Scriptural  history  and  geological  discovery.  It  will, 
however,  be  seen  from  what  I  have  here  stated,  that 
not  only  no  such  discordance  exists,  but  that  making 
such  allowances  for  the  latitude  of  language  as  are  in- 
dispensable in  the  interpretation  of  so  brief  and  popu- 
lar a  description,  designed  not  for  the  scientific,  but 
for  the  mass  of  mankind,  as  that  given  in  Genesis, 
there  is  the  most  remarkable  and  satisfactory  accord* 
ance  with  natural  phenomena.**  * 

*  Laniner.   Museum.    V\)t,  XII,  p.  160. 


30  CREATION. 

MAN. 

According  to  the  second  chapter  of  the  book  of  Gen- 
esis, Almighty  God  created  man  from  the  slime  of  the 
earth,  and  then  breathed  into  him  a  living  soul. 
"And  the  lyord  God  formed  man  of  the  slime  of  the 
earth,  and  breathed  into  his  face  the  breath  of  life, 
and  man  became  a  living  soul."  Gen.  2,  ch.  yv.  Eve 
was  formed  from  a  bone  of  Adam. 

It  was  just  as  eas}^  for  the  great  Creator  to  create 
man  instantaneously  as  the  Holy  Scripture  seems  to 
imply,  as  to  create  gradually,  yet,  during  the  last  two 
centuries  especially,  some  scientists  have  endeavored 
to  render  themselves  famous  by  trying  to  prove  that 
life  is  capable  of  springing  into  being  of  itself,  or  that 
man  is  the  last  link  in  a  chain  of  animals  evolved  one 
from  the  other.  Spontaneous  Generation  has  died  a 
natural  death;  Evolution,  to  say  the  least,  remains  alto- 
gether unproved. 

The  doctrine  of  Spontaneous  Generation  has  been 
revived  within  recent  years  by  Dr.  Bastian  after  a 
series  of  elaborate  experiments  on  the  Beginnings  of 
Life.  Stated  in  his  own  words,  his  conclusion  is  this: 
"Both  observation  and  experiment  unmistakably  tes- 
tify to  the  fact  that  living  matter  is  constantly  being 
formed  de  novo  in  obedience  to  the  same  laws  and 
tendencies  which  determine  all  the  more  simple  chem- 
ical combinations."  Life,  that  is  to  say,  is  not  the 
Gift  of  Life.  It  is  capable  of  springing  into  being  of 
itself.     It  can  be  spontaneously  generated." 

This  announcement  called  into  the  field  a  phalanx  of 
observers,  and  the  highest  authorities  in  biological 
science  engaged  themselves  afresh  upon  the  problem. 
The  experiments  necessary  to  test  the  matter  can  be 


SPONTANEOUS  GENERATION,  31 

followed  or  repeated  by  any  one  possessing  the  slight- 
est manipulative  skill.     Glass  vessels  are  three  parts 
filled   with,  infusions   of    hay  or    any   organic  matter. 
They  are  boiled  to  kill  all  germs  of  life,  and  hermetic- 
ally sealed  to  exclude  the  outer  air.  .  The  air  inside, 
having  been  exposed  to  the  boiling  temperature  for  • 
many  hours,  is  supposed  to  be  likewise  dead,  so  that 
any  life  which  may  subsequently  appear  in  the  closed 
flasks  must  have  sprung  into  being  of  itseif.     In  Bas- 
tian's  experiments,  after   every  expedient   to   secure 
sterility,  life  did  appear   inside   in    myriad  quantity. 
Therefore,  he  argued,  it  was  spontaneously  generated. 
But  the  phalanx  of  observers  found  two  errors  in 
this  calculation.     Professor  Tyndall  repeated  the  same 
experiment,  only  with  a  precaution  to  insure  absolute 
sterility     suggested    by     the    most     recent    science, 
a  discovery  of  his  own.     After   every   care,  he   con- 
ceived their  might  still  be  undestroyed   germs  in  the 
air  inside  the  flasks.     If  the  air  were  absolutely  germ- 
less  and  pure  would  the  myriad  life  appear?     He  ma- 
nipulated his  experimental  vessels  in  an  atmosphere, 
which,  under  the  high  test  of  optical  purity — the  most 
delicate  known  test-  was  absolutely  germless.     Here 
not  a  vestige  of  life  appeared.     He  varied  the  experi- 
ment in  every  direction,  but  matter  in  the  germless  air 
never  yielded  life. 

The  other  error  was  detected  by  Mr.  DalHnger. 
He  found  among  the  lower  forms  of  life,  the  most  sur- 
prising and  indestructible  vitality.  Many  animals 
could  survive  much  higher  temi>erature  than  Dr. 
Bastion  had  applied  to  annihilate  them.  Some  germs 
almos*  refused  to  be  annihilated — they  were  all  but 
fire-proof. 


32  SPON  TANEO  US  GENERA  TION. 

These  experiments  have  practically  closed  the  ques- 
tion. A  decided  and  authoritative  conclusion  has  now 
taken  its  place  in  science.  So  far  as  vScience  can  settle 
any  thin^,  this  question  is  settled.  Spontaneous 
Generation  has  had  to  be  given  up.  And  it  is  now 
•recognized  on  every  hand  that  Life  can  only  come 
from  the  touch  of  Life.  Huxley  categorically  an- 
nounces that  the  doctrine  of  Biogenesis,  or  life  only 
from  life  is  * 'victorious  along  the  whole  line  at  the 
present  day."  And  even  while  confessing  that  he 
wishes  the  evidence  were  the  other  way,  Tyndall  is 
compelled  to  say,  *'I  affirm  that  no  shred  of  trust- 
worthy experimental  testimony  exists  to  prove  that 
life  in  our  day  has  ever  appeared  independently  of 
antecedent  life."  * 

Darwin's  theories  clearly  lead  to  the  Creed  of 
Spontaneous  Generation,  but  it  remained  for  Haeckel 
in  trying  to  improve  on  the  teaching  of  Darwin,  to 
erect  a  structure  that  quickly  crumbled  into  dust. 
Ernst  Haeckel  born  in  1834,  became  famed  as  a 
scientist,  and  because  his  name  became  connected  with 
the  famous  Bathybius,  Haeckel  quotes  it  as  a  clear 
case  of  Spontaneous  Generation.  It  was  discovered 
by  Huxley  in  1868,  who  called  it  Bathybius  Haeckelii. 
It  was  simply  a  jelly  like  substance  which  Haeckel 
assumed  spontaneously  generated  the  beginning  of 
life.  It  received  its  name  from  being  found  in  the 
depths  of  the  ocean  from  12,000  to  24,000  feet. 
Beginning  with  this,  Haeckel  formed  a  chain  of  some 
twenty  or  twenty-two  links  of  which  the  following  are 
the  principal:  first,  the  Bathybius;  second,  an  amoeba; 
third,  a  ciliated  larva;  then  a  worm;  a  higher  class  of 
worm;  a  still  higher  class  of  worm;  a  sacciform  worm; 

^Drummond,    Natural  Law  in  Spiritual  Life,  pp  60-61. 


EVOLUTION.  33 

a  vertebrate  animal;  a  dog  fish;  a  mud  fish;  an 
amphibian;  a  kind  of  salamander;  a  beaked  animal;  a 
kind  of  kangaroo;  an  animal  like  an  ape;  an  ape  with 
a  tail;  a  monkey  without  a  tail;  the  man-monkey;  the 
man! 

Haeckel  here  defends  a  lost  cause.  The  Bathybius, 
that  he  characterizes  as  'one  of  the  chief  supports  of 
the  modern  theory  of  evolution'  does  not  really  exist: 
it  has  never  existed.  Huxley  himself  who  named  it, 
and  gave  it  a  fictitious  existence,  no  longer  believes 
in  its  reality.  Here  we  quote  his  own  words:  *'I  fear 
the  thing  to  which  I  gave  that  name  is  little  more  than 
sulphate  of  lime  precipitated  in  a  flocculent  state  from 
the  sea-water  through  the  strong  alcohol  in  which  the 
specimens  of  the  deep  sea  soundings  which  I  examined 
were  preserved.  The  Bathybius  exists  only  in  the 
dark  depths  of  scientific  superstition. 

At  the  Congress  of  German  Naturalists,  held  at 
Hamburg  in  1876,  Professor  Moebiusof  Kiel,  delivered 
a  discourse  on  the  marine  fauna  and  the  expedition  of 
the  "Challenger"  which  he  sumraed-up  as  follows: 
*Onthe  plains — submarine  plains,  from  12000  to  13000 
feet  in  depth — it  was  asserted,  was  spread  the  mysteri- 
ous Bathybius.  Unfortunately,  the  fates  have  proved 
the  contrary.  The  Bathybius  which  harmonizes  so  well 
with  the  modern  ideas  of  the  origin  of  life,  proved  to 
be  only  an  artificial  product,  a  precipitate  of  gypsum, 
dissolved  in  sea  water  by  the  alcohol  in  which  the 
preparation  was  preserved.  Whenever  any  one  has 
examined  fresh  preparations  on  board,  it  has  been 
impo.ssible  to  discover  the  lea.st  trace  of  the  Bathybius. 

There  was  a  moment  of  profound  astonishment  in 
the  audience  when  Moebiu.s,  using  such  a . •simple  recipe, 
Thein.  Chrisiian  Anthropohi^y,^^.  2^7,  S68. 


U  ANTIQUITY  OF  MAN, 

made  the  Balhybius  appear  in  a  glass  filled  with  sea- 
water,  by  adding  thereto  a  certain  quantity  of  alcohol. 
The  Bathybius  having  failed,  the   chain  of  Ernst 
Haeckel  became  dissolved  and  disappeared. 

ANTIQUITY  OF  MAN. 
Although  the  Catholic  Church  has  not  defined  the 
number  of  years  that  have  elapsed  since  the  crea- 
tion of  man,  yet  the  general  acceptation  is  1656  years 
to  the  time  of  the  Deluge;  2348  years  from  the  Deluge 
to  the  birth  of  Christ;  and  1900  from  the  birth  of  Christ 
to  the  present  time. 

But  there  have  been  scholars,  and  there  are  now-a- 
days  scholars  who  do  not  at  all  accept  the  generally 
received  six  thousand  years  as  the  elapsed  period  since 
the  creation  of  man.  Some  of  them  assign  periods 
many  thousands  of  years  longer.  But  in  this  as  in  kin- 
dred matters,  the  greatest  mistakes  have  been  made, 
mistakes  that  must  be  admitted  even  by  the  learned. 

Egypt  is  probably  the  oldest  civilized  portion  of  the 
globe.  Some  claim  for  this  country  a  much  higher  an- 
tiquity than  the  Mosaic  chronology  or  the  facts  will 
warrant.  It  is  claimed,  for  example,  that  on  the  an- 
cestral tablets  only  lately  recovered,  the  names  of  cer- 
tain Pharaohs  are  found,  each  reigning  so  many  years, 
and  when  you  come  to  compute  the  whole  list,  it  carries 
you  back  beyond  our  era  five  thousand  years  or  more. 
Which  is  true.  But  then  they  overlook  the  important 
fact  that  these  kings  did  not  reign  successively,  but,  in 
many  instances,  contemporaneously,  rival  Pharaohs 
being  on  the  thrones  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt  at 
the  same  time,  and  in  other  instances  father  and  son 
were  associated  in  the  government  of  the  country. 
Then,  there  are  many  gaps  or  omissions  in  these  tab- 
lets, which,  when  supplied  with  the  proper  data,  re- 


EGYPTIAN  ANTIQUITY.  85 

move  all  difiBculties  in  harmonizing  the  Hebrew  and 
Egyptian  Chronology. 

It  is  further  argued  that  the  sediment  deposited 
during  the  annual  overflow  of  the  Nile  accumulates  at 
the  rate  of  so  many  inches  in  a  century,  and  as  from 
twenty  to  thirty  feet  of  this  alluvial  deposit  are  found 
over  some  of  these  buried  cities,  they,  therefore,  must 
be  from  six  to  eight  thousand  years  old.  This,  how- 
ever, does  not  follow,  as  the  deposit  some  years  is 
greater  than  others,  and  forms  in  the  eddies  over  these 
ruins  much  faster  than  out  on  the  naked  plain.  It  is 
also  a  notable  fact  that  the  oldest  relics  found  in  the 
oldest  tombs  of  Egypt  are  wooden  coffins  and  idols,  in 
many  instances  not  the  least  decayed;  embalmed  mum- 
mies, the  linen  wrappings  upon  them  scarcely  soiled; 
rolls  of  papyri,  as  legible  as  if  written  on  but  yester- 
day; eggs  looking  as  fresh  as  if  just  taken  from  the 
nest;  garden  seeds  and  wheat  said  still  to  retain  their 
vitality;  loaves  of  bread,  different  kinds  of  vegetables, 
even  honey  in  the  comb;  nothing  to  warrant  a  more 
remote  antiquity  than  the  Mosaic  account,  e.specially 
if  we  adopt  the  Septuagint  standard.  And  what  makes 
the-ie  statements  of  the  skeptic  appear  even  more  ab- 
surd, is  the  fact  that  in  some  of  these  cities  which  they 
affirm  have  been  buried  ten  thousand  years  or  more, 
recently  have  been  found  coins  and  pieces  of  pottery 
belonging  to  the  Greek  and  Roman  jHrriod.* 

Mr.  Horner,  from  borings  in  the  mud  of  the  Delta, 
found  a  piece  of  pottery  at  the  depth  of  thirty-nine 
feet;  immediately  it  was  inferred  that  the  pottery  had 
been  buried  13,000  years.  Sir  John  Lubbock  and  Sir 
Charles  Lyell  accepting  this  conclusion  drew  wonder- 
ful inferences,  read  in  various  papers  before  learned 
*  De  Hass,  BurUi  Cities,  pp.  27,  SS. 


36  ANTIQUITY  OF  MAN. 

societies.  They  concluded  that  the  bricks  and  pot- 
tery of  Egypt  date  back  from  12,000  to  60,000  years. 
Unfortunately  for  all  this  fine  speculation,  Sir  R.  Ste- 
phenson found  in  the  Delta  near  Damietta  at  a  greater 
depth  than  Mr.  Horner  had  reached,  a  brick  bearing  on 
it  the  stamp  of  Mohammed  Ali.  Mr.  Horner,  more- 
over, rated  the  growth  of  the  mud  deposits  in  a  given 
spot  at  only  three  and  a  half  inches  in  a  century,  but 
a  description  of  the  same  spot  by  a  Mohammedan 
writer  only  six  centuries  ago  shows  that  the  mud  is 
deposited  at  the  rate  of  over  eighteen  inches  in  a  hun- 
dred years.  No  wonder  that  even  the  Anthropological 
Review  pronounces  Mr.  Horner's  evidence  as  prepos- 
terous, and  laments  that  Sir  Charles  Ly ell  should  have 
thought  it  worth  his  while  to  notice  such  absurdities. 
The  attention  to  Egyptian  monuments  and  litera- 
ture in  modern  times  has  been  indeed  fertile  in  objec- 
tions to  sacred  history,  which,  like  every  other  study, 
it  has  overthrown  in  its  advance.  The  controversy 
upon  the  zodiacs  of  Dendera,  the  ancient  Tentyris,  and 
Esneh,  or  Latopolis,  is  a  remarkable  proof  of  this  as- 
sertion. 

The  expedition  into  Egypt  under  Napoleon,  which 
shed  as  much  lustre  on  the  literary  ardor  of  France  as 
it  cast  shadow  upon  her  martial  prowess,  first  made  us 
acquainted  with  these  curious  monuments.  At  Den- 
dera were  found  two;  one  was  an  oblong  painting 
formed  by  two  parallel  but  separate  bands,  enclosed 
within  two  monstrous  female  figures.  Upon  these 
bands,  in  an  inner  subdivision,  were  disposed  the 
zodiacal  signs,  with  numerous  mythological  represen- 
tations; on  the  outside  were  a  series  of  boats,  represent- 
ing the  decans  of  each  sign.     This  zodiac  was  painted 


EGYPTIAN  ANTIQUITY,  37 

in  the  portico  of  a  temple,  where  like  all  the  others  it 
occupied  the  ceiling.  The  second  zodiac,  or  rather 
planisphere,  is  circular,  and  has  been  transported  to 
France  from  an  upper  chamber  of  the  same  temple  by 
MM.  Saulnier  and  Lelorrain.  Esneh  contributed 
also  two  zodiacs,  one  from  the  greater,  the  second 
from  the  smaller  of  its  temples.  These  two.  with  the 
rectangular  zodiac  of  Dendera,  can  alone  claim  par- 
ticular attention;  the  circular  planisphere  must  follow 
the  fate  of  the  zodiac  painted  in  the  same  temple. 

No  sooner  were  representations  of  these  monuments 
published, than  Europe, and  particularly  France,  teemed 
with  memoirs  and  dissertations  discussing  their  an- 
tiquity. It  was  in  general  taken  for  granted  that  they 
represented  the  state  of  the  heavens  at  the  period  when 
they  were  projected,  and  when  the  edifices  which  they 
adorned  were  erected.  Some  discovered  in  them  the 
point  in  which  the  solstitial  colures  cut  the  ecliptic  at 
that  time,  and  with  Burckhardt,  attributed  to  the 
great  zodiac  of  Esneh  the  frightful  antiquity  of  7000, 
to  that  of  Dendera  of  4000  years;  while  Dupuis  upon  the 
same  premises,  stinted  the  latter  to  3,562.  Others 
assumed  that  they  represented  the  state  of  the  heavens 
at  the  commencement  of  a  Sothic  period;  and  like  Sir 
W.  Drummond,  assigned  to  that  of  Dendera,  1322.  to 
that  of  the  great  temple  of  Esneh,  2800  years  before 
our  era.  A  third  class,  in  fine,  saw  in  them  the  heli- 
acal rising  of  Sirius  at  some  given  period,  and  con- 
cluded with  Fourier,  that  the  zodiacs  of  Esneh  were 
constructed  2500,  that  of  Dendera  2000  years  before 
Christ,  or  with  Nouet,  that  the  latter  was  traced 
2500.  the  greater  of  the  former,  4600  years  anterior 
to  that  era.     The  same  basis  led  different  speculators 


38  ANTIQUITY  OF  MAN. 

to  opposite  conclusions,  and  error  thus  betrayed  itself 
by  the  characteristic  variety  of  its  hues. 

Early  in  the  contest  there  was  a  class  of  investiga- 
tors who  ventured  to  suggest  that  the  alarming 
antiquity  thus  conceded  to  these  curious  monuments 
should  be  examined  not  upon  astronomical,  but  upon 
archaeological  principles.  The  venerable  and  learned 
Monsignor  Testa  and  the  celebrated  antiquary 
Visconti,  were  among  the  number.  The  latter 
remarked  in  particular,  that  the  temple  of  Dendera, 
though  of  Egyptian  architecture,  bore  characteristic 
marks,  which  could  not  be  more  ancient  than  the 
Ptolemies,  and  that  Greek  inscriptions  upon  it 
referred  to  a  Caesar,  who,  he  thought,  must  be 
Augustus  or  Tiberius.  This  reasoning,  however, 
was  overlooked  for  twenty  years,  and  astronomical 
illustrations  were  alone  admitted.  Mr.  Bankes  during 
his  visit  to  Egypt,  paid  considerable  attention  to  this 
interesting  investigation;  and  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  David 
Baillie,  communicated  his  grounds  for  believing  these 
temples  to  be  of  no  greater  antiquity  than  the  reigns 
of  Adrian  and  Antoninus  Pius.  He  remarked  that 
while  the  capitals  of  the  most  ancient  columns  of 
Thebes  are  a  simple  bell,  and  placed  on  polygonal  or 
fluted  shafts,  those  of  Esneh  and  Dendera  are  labor- 
iously rich  with  foliage  and  fruit.  More  than  this, 
the  hieroglyphics  upon  the  columns  are  not  certainly 
Egyptian,  for  Mr.  Bankes  found  an  inscription, 
stating  that  they  were  traced  in  the  reign  of  Antoninus. 

The  archaeological  arguments,  however,  for  the 
modern  construction  of  these  monuments,  received 
their  full  development  from  the  hand  of  M.  Letronne. 
This  learned  scholar  collected  all  necessary  informa- 


EG YPTIAN  ANTIQUITY,  39 

tion  from  the  publications  and  reports  of  travellers 
regarding  their  architecture,  and  illustrated  the 
inscriptions  still  existing  upon  them.  MM.  Huyott 
and  Gau  furnished  him  with  interesting  particulars  on 
the  former  subject.  Among  other  facts  they  proved 
from  its  style  and  from  the  colors  employed,  that  the 
pronaon  of  the  small  temple  of  Esneh,  in  which  the 
zodiac  is  painted,  is  of  the  same  date  with  the  temple 
itself.  Now  an  inscription,  probably  the  same  alluded 
to  by  Mr.  Bankes,  was  copied  by  these  artists  from  a 
column  of  the  latter,  in  which  it  is  stated  that  two 
Egyptians  caused  the  paintings  to  be  executed  in  the 
tenth  year  of  Antoninus — the  147th  after  Christ. 
Such  then  is  the  date  of  the  small  zodiac  of  Esneh,  to 
which  an  age  had  been  assigned  of  from  two  to  three 
thousand  years  anterior  to  Christ.  The  temple  of 
Dendera  has  shared  the  same  fate.  A  Greek  inscrip- 
tion on  its  portico,  which  had  been  overlooked, 
declares  it  to  be  dedicated  to  the  safety  of  Tiberius.* 
Again,  an  unnatural  antiquity  to  the  astronomical 
discoveries  of  the  Hindoos  was  given  by  the  unfortu- 
nate Bailly.  During  his  life  he  possessed,  at  least 
among  less  profound  mathematicians,  a  very  brilliant 
reputation;  but  he  was  infected  with  all  ths  defects  of 
his  time, — a  love  of  bold  and  startling  hypothesis, 
splendidly  supported  by  ingenious  and  diversified  argu- 
ments. "It  was  not  for  learned  men  that  he  wrote,** 
says  Delambre,  "he  aspired  to  a  more  extensive  reputa- 
tion.  He  yielded  to  the  pleasure  of  entering  into  the 
lists  with  Voltaire;  he  revived  the  old  romance  of  the 
Atlantis;  he  had  a  good  many  readers  and  that  ruined 
him.  The  success  of  his  first  paradox  led  him  to  cre- 
ate others.  He  devised  his  extinct  nation,  and  his 
Card.  Wiseman,  ScUnci  and  Rtii^iom,  88-91 


40  THE  ANTIQITV  OF  MAN, 

astronomy  perfected  in  mythological  times;  he  made  every 
thing  bear  upon  this  favorite  idea;  and  was  not  very 
scrtipulotis  in  his  choice  of  means  to  give  color  to  his 
hypothesis.  Hence,  he  assigned  4,320,000  years  to 
the  great  period  of  the  Cali-yuga,  which  being  investi- 
gated, Montucla  concludes  that  Indian  astromony  boast- 
ing such  wonderful  antiquity  was  simply  borrowed 
from  the  inhabitants  of  Western  Asia. 

To  the  Indian  astronomic  work,  known  as  the 
Surya  Siddhanta,  the  Brahmans  gave  an  age  of 
several  millions  of  years.  Mr.  Bentley's  essay  on  the 
subject  appears  in  the  sixth  volume  of  the  Asiatic 
Researches.  In  this  he  gives  strong  reasons  to  con- 
clude that  the  author  of  the  book  was  Naraha,  whose 
disciple  Sotanund  is  known  to  have  lived  about  700 
years  ago.  Thus  disappears  the  antiquity  of  the 
Surya  Siddhanta. 

THE  RACES  OF  MEN. 
Not  only  have  the  enemies  of  revealed  religion 
taught  the  erroneous  antiquity  of  man,  but  they  deny 
that  the  differently  colored  races  of  men  could  descend 
from  Adam  and  Eve,  yet  theWord  of  God  has  always 
considered  mankind  as  descended  from  one  parent,  and 
the  great  mystery  of  redemption  rests  upon  the  belief 
that  all  men  sinned  in  their  common  father.  Suppose 
different  and  unconnected  creations  of  men,  and  the 
deep  mystery  of  original  sin,  and  the  glorious  mystery 
of   redemption  are  blotted  out  from  religion's  book. 

Let  us  look  around  and  we  shall  find  that  food,  climate 
and  surroundings  have  much  to  do  with  color.  All 
the  fowls  in  Guinea,  and  the  dogs,  too,  according  to 
Beckman  are  as  black  as  the  inhabitants.  The  ox  of 
the  Roman   campagna  is   invariably    gray,    while   in 


THE  RACES  OF  MEN.  41 

some  other  parts  of  Italy  the  breed  is  mostly  red; 
swine  and  sheep  are  also  here  chiefly  black,  while  in 
England  white  is  their  prevailing  hue.  In  Corsica, 
horses,  dogs  and  other  animals,  become  beautifully 
spotted,  and  the  carriage  dog  as  it  is  called,  belongs  to 
that  country.  Many  writers  have  attributed  to 
particular  rivers  the  quality  of  giving  color  to  the 
.cattle  on  their  banks.  Thus  Vitruvius  observes  that 
the  rivers  of  Boeotia,  and  the  Xanthus,  near  Troy, 
gave  a  yellow  color  to  their  herds,  whence  the  river 
Xanthus  took  its  name.  Mr.  Stewart  Rose  in  his 
Letters  from  the  North  of  Italy,  says,  that  a  similar 
quality  is  attributed  to  the  Po  at  the  present  day. 

The  texture  of  the  hair  undergoes  similar  changes. 
Every  attempt  to  produce  wool  in  the  East  Indies  has 
failed,  because  sheep,  if  transported  thither,  entirely 
lose  their  wool,  and  become  covered  with  hair.  This 
is  the  same  in  other  hot  climates.  "The  Sheep  in 
Guinea,"  says  Smith,  "have  so  little  resemblance  to 
those  in  Europe,  that  a  stranger,  unless  he  heard 
them  bleat,  could  hardly  tell  what  animals  they  were, 
being  covered  only  with  light  brown  and  black  hair, 
like  a  dog;"  so  that  a  fanciful  writer  observes:  "here 
the  world  seams  inverted,  for  the  sheep  are  hairy  and 
the  men  woolly."  A  similar  phenomenon  occurs  in 
the  country  around  Angora  where  almost  every 
animal,  sheep,  goats,  rabbits,  cats  are  covered  with  a 
beautiful,  long,  silken  hair,  so  celebrated  in  oriental 
manufactures.  Other  animals  are  subject  to  this 
change,  for  Bishop  Heber  informs  us  that  "dogs  and 
horses  carried  into  the  hills  from  India  arc  soon 
covered  with  wool,  like  the  shawl  goats  of  that 
climate." 

Card,  Wiseman, 


42  THE  RACES  OF  MEN. 

According  to  Bosman,  "European  dogs  soon  degen- 
erate to  a  strange  degree  on  the  Gold  Coast;  their  ears 
grow  long,  and  stiff  like  a  fox's,  to  the  color  of  which 
animal  they  also  incline;  so  that  they  grow  very  ugly 
in  three  or  four  years,  and  in  as  many  broods,  their 
barking  turns  to  a  howl  or  a  yelp."  Barbot  says,  in 
like  manner,  that  the  "native  dogs  are  veiy  ugly,  being 
much  like  our  foxes,  with  long  upright  ears;  their 
tails  long,  small  and  sharp  at  the  end,  without  any 
hair,  having  only  a  naked  bare  skin,  either  plain  or 
spotted,  and  never  bark,  but  only  howl.  The  blacks 
call  them  cabre  de  matto^  which  in  Portugese  signifies  a 
wild  goat,  because  they  eat  them,  and  value  their  flesh 
beyond  mutton." 

The  reasonings  sanctioned  by  these  facts,  present  a 
strong  ground  of  analogy,  applicable  to  the  human 
species;  nor  is  it  easy  to  see  why  varieties  as  great, 
may  not  have  been  produced,  and  transmitted  by 
descent,  among  men,  as  among  inferior  animals.  It 
seems  to  me  then  clear  that  in  each  family,  or  race,  of 
the  human  species  there  are  occasionally  produced 
varieties  tending  to  establish  within  it  the  characteris- 
tics of  some  other.  There  are  indeed  examples  of 
much  more  decided  and  stranger  varieties  arising 
among  men,  than  what  constitutes  the  specific  char- 
acteristics of  any  race,  and  of  such  being  continued 
from  father  to  son — such  varieties  as  would  have 
made  the  problem  in  hand  far  more  difficult  to  solve, 
than  at  present  it  is,  had  they  sprung  up  in  a  distant 
quarter  of  the  globe,  and  been  extended  to  any  con- 
siderable population. 

The  most  remarkable  of  these  is,  doubtless,  what 
has  been  traced  through  three  generations  in  the  fam- 
Card,  Wiseman, 


THE  RACES  OF  MEN.  43 

ily  of  Lambert,  commonly  known  by  the  name  of  the 
porcupine  man.  The  founder  of  this  extraordinary 
race  was  first  exhibited  as  a  boy  by  his  father  in  1731, 
and  pame  from  the  neigborhood  of  Euston  Hall  in 
Suffolk.  Mr.  Mackin  in  that  year  described  him  in 
the  Philosophical  Transactions  as  having  his  body  cov- 
ered with  warts  as  thick  as  pack-thread  and  half  an 
inch  long.  The  name,  however,  is  not  given.  In 
1755  he  was  again  exhibited  with  the  fore-named  title, 
and  was  described  by  Mr.  Baker  in  a  paper  purporting 
to  be  a  supplement  to  the  former.  But  what  is  im- 
portant, is  that,  being  now  forty  years  of  age.  he  had 
had  six  children,  every  one  of  whom,  at  the  same  pe- 
riod, nine  weeks  after  birth,  had  presented  the  same 
peculiarity,  and  the  only  surviving  one,  a  boy  eight 
years  old,  was  exhibited  with  his  father.  Mr.  Baker 
gives  a  drawing  of  the  boy's  hand,  as  Mr.  Mackin  had 
before  of  his  father's.  In  1802  the  children  of  this 
boy  were  exhibited  in  Germany  by  a  Mens,  and  Mde. 
Joanny,  who  pretended  that  they  belonged  to  a  race 
found  in  New  Holland,  or  some  other  very  remote 
place.  Dr.  Tilesius,  however,  examined  them  most 
minutely,  and  published  the  most  accurate  account  we 
have  of  this  singular  family,  with  full  length  figures 
of  the  two  brothers — John,  who  was  twenty -one.  and 
Richard,  who  was  thirteen  years  of  age.  Their  father, 
the  boy  of  Mr.  Baker's  narrative,  was  still  alive,  and 
was  game-keeper  to  Lord  Huntingfield  at  Heavening- 
ham  Hall,  in  Suffolk.  Upon  being  shown  the  draw- 
ing of  his  hand  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions,  they 
both  instantly  recognized  it  by  the  peculiar  button  at 
the  wrist.  Tilesius's  description  from  page  30  to  the 
end  of  his  work  is  most  minute  and  corresponds  ex- 


44  THE  RACES  OF  MEN. 

actly  with  that  given  of  their  progenitors.  The  whole 
of  the  body  excepting  the  palms  of  the  hands,  the 
soles  of  the  feet,  and  the  face,  was  covered  with  a 
series  of  horny  excresences  of  a  reddish  brown,  hard, 
elastic,  and  about  half  an  inch  long,  which  rustled 
against  one  another  when  rubbed  with  the  hand.  I 
do  not  know  with  what  I  can  compare  the  appearance 
of  this  singular  integument  as  given  in  Tilesius's 
plates  better  than  to  a  collection  of  basaltic  prisms, 
some  longer,  some  shorter,  as  they  are  generally 
grouped  in  nature.  Once  a  year  this  horny  clothing 
was  shed,  and  its  falling  off  was  accompanied  by  some 
degree  of  uneasiness;  it  yielded  also  to  the  action 
of  mercury,  which  was  tried  for  the  purpose,  but  in 
both  cases  it  gradually  returned  after  a  very  short  pe- 
riod. The  conclusions  which  Mr.  Baker  draws  from 
this  extraordinary  phenomenon  are  very  just,  and  have 
still  greater  weight  now  that  it  has  been  reproduced  in 
another  generation.  "It  appears  therefore"  says  he 
"past  all  doubt,  that  a  race  of  people  may  be  propa- 
gated by  this  man,  having  such  rugged  coats  or  cover- 
ings as  himselt;  and  if  this  should  happen  and  the  acci- 
dental origin  be  forgotten,  'tis  not  impossible  they 
might  be  deemed  a  different  species  of  mankind:  a  con- 
sideration which  would  almost  lead  one  to  imagine,  that 
if  mankind  were  produced  from  one  and  the  same  stock 
the  black  skin  of  the  negroes,  and  many  other  differ- 
ences of  a  like  kind,  might  possibly  have  been  origo- 
nally  owing  to  some  such  accidental  cause." 

But  it  may  be  asked,  have  we  any  instance  of  whole 

nations  having  been  so  changed;  or,   in  other  w^ords, 

have  we  any  example  of  such  changes  on  a  larger  scale? 

To  answer  this  question  would  of  course  close  at  once 

"^  Card.  Wiseman, 


THE  RACES  OF  MEN.  45 

with  all  the  difficulties  of  the  subject,  but  I  will  refer 
to  some  cases. 

We  have  a  very  striking  example  in  the  intelligent 
and  accurate  traveller,  Burckhardt.  The  town  of  Soua- 
kin  situated  on  the  African  coast  of  the  Red  Sea,  lower 
down  than  Mecca,  contains  a  mixed  population,  formed 
first  of  Bedouins  or  Arabs,  including  the  descendants 
of  the  ancient  Turks,  and  secondly  of  the  towns- people, 
who  are  either  Arabs  from  the  opposite  coast  or  Turks 
of  modern  origin.  The  following  is  his  account  of  the 
two  classes.  Of  the  first  he  says:  "The  Hadherebe  or 
Bedouins  of  Souakin  have  exactly  the  same  features, 
language  and  dress,  as  the  Nubian  Bedouins.  In  gen- 
eral they  have  handsome  and  expressive  features,  with 
thin  and  very  short  beards.  Their  color  is  of  the  dark- 
est brown  approaching  to  black;  but  they  have  nothing 
of  the  negro  character  of  countenance.'*  The  others 
who  are  descended  entirely  from  settlers  from  Mosul, 
Hadramout,  etc.,  and  from  Turks  sent  thither  by  Sclim, 
upon  his  conquest  of  Egypt,  have  undergone  the  same 
change.  "The  present  race  "  says  Burckhardt  **have 
the  African  features  and  manners,  and,  are  in  no  way 
to  be  distinguished  from  the  Hadherebe."  Here  wc 
have  two  distinct  nations,  Arabs  and  Turks,  in  the 
course  of  a  few  centuries,  becoming  black  in  Africa, 
though  originally  white. 

Again  we  are  credibly  informed  that  In  some  parts 
of  India  the  descendants  of  Europeans  long  ago  set- 
tled there  have  totally  changed  their  color,  though,  of 
course,  not  their  features.  "It  is  remarkable,  how- 
ever, to  observe,"  says  Heber.  "how  surely  all  these 
classes  of  men  ( Persians,  Greeks,  Tartars,  Turks,  and 
Arabs)  in  a  few  generations,  even  without  any  inter- 


46  ADAM, 

marriage  with  the  Hindoos,  assume  the  deep  olive  tint, 
little  less  dark  than  the  negro,  which  seems  natural  to 
the  climate.  The  Portugese  have,  during  a  three  hun- 
dred years*  residence  in  India,  become  as  black  as  Caf- 
fres.  Surely  this  goes  far  to  disprove  the  assertion 
which  is  sometimes  made  that  climate  alone  is  insuffi- 
cient to  account  for  the  difference  between  the  negro 
and  the  European.  It  is  true  that  in  the  negro  are 
other  peculiarities  which  the  Indians  have  not,  and  to 
which  the  Portuguese  colonist  shows  no  symptom  o£ 
approximation;  but,  if  heat  produces  one  change,  other 
peculiarities  of  climate  may  produce  other  and  addi- 
tional changes,  and  when  such  peculiarities  have  three 
or  four  thousand  years  to  operate  in,  it  is  not  easy  to 
fix  any  limits  to  their  power. ' '  * 

ADAM. 
It  is  not  easy  for  a  man  to  be  at  once  religious  and 
thoughtful  without  having  a  great  deal  of  devotional 
tenderness  connected  with  the  memory  of  Adam.  His 
life  is  a  sort  of  foreshadowing  of  the  history  of  God's 
elect,  and  the  vicissitudes  of  his  Holy  Church.  The 
creation  of  Adam,  the  supernatural  gifts  which  adorned 
him,  the  one  fact  which  tells  volumes  of  the  character 
of  God,  namely,  that  he  was  created,  not  in  a  state  of 
nature,  but  of  grace,  the  beauty  of  his  terrestrial  dwell- 
ing place,  the  sublimity  of  his  intelligence,  his  empire 
over  the  powers  and  laws  of  nature,  his  mysterious  in-' 
timacy  with  his  Creator,  his  relation  to  the  angels,  his 
union  with  the  immaculate  Eve,  the  fall  with  its  man- 
ifold revelations  of  himself,  of  Eve,  of  man's  nature,  of 
Satan's  malice  and  of  God's  perfections,  his  nine  hun- 
dred years  of  heroic  penance,  and  his  justification  by 
■'^Card.  Wiseman. 


BAPTISM.  47 

faith,  penance,  and  the  Precious  Blood  of  Jesus  Christ. 
and  last  of  all  his  succumbing  to  death,  which  was  as 
it  were  his  own  creation.  All  these  are  so  many  mys- 
teries for  meditation.  He  was  the  maker  of  death, 
and  he  had  seen  it  and  shuddered  at  it  in  his  own  mar- 
tyred son. 

BAPTISM. 
Adam  by  his  fall  deprived  himself  of   sanctifying 
grace,  and  through  him  his  descendants  were  deprived 
also,  except  the  Most  Blessed  Virgin.     The  sacrament 
of  Baptism  was  instituted  to  restore  this  grace  to  men. 
Not  many  days  elapse  after  a  child  of  Catholic  pa- 
rents is  born  before  he  is  carried  to  the  baptismal  font. 
There  by  the  almost   momentary  action  of  the  Most 
Holy  and  undivided  Trinity,  the  child  is  regenerated. 
Nothing  can  be  more  easy  or  more  instantaneous.     Yet 
let  us  consider  all  that  is  involved  in  an  infant's  bap- 
tism.    Not  only  are  the  eternal  consequences  of  the 
fall  to  his  particular  soul  in  one  instant  destroyed,  but 
the  child  becomes  entitled  to  the   most   stupendous 
privileges  and  inheritance,  which  would  not  have  been 
due  to  him  naturally  even  if    Adam   had  not  fallen. 
He  is  at  once  raised  to  a  far  higher  state  than  one  of 
pure  nature.     He  is  the  child  of  God.     The  Divine 
nature  has  been  communicated  to  him  by  sanctifying 
grace.     Extraordinary  possibilities  of  spiritual  devel- 
opments and  earnests  of  evei lasting  life  have  been  im- 
planted in  him  by  certain  mysteriously  infused  habits 
of  the  theological  virtues,   faith,   hope,  and  charity, 
perhaps  of  the  other  virtues  also.   Seven  other  supernat- 
ural habits,  standing  in  the  same  relation  to  the  actual 
impulses  of  the  Holy  Ghost  as  the  other  infused  habits 
stand  to  actual  grace,  and  which  bear  the  name  of  the 


48  THE  IMMACULATE  CONCEPTION, 

Gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  are  also  infused  into  him, 
containing  in  themselves  spiritual  provisions  for  the 
greater  occasions  of  his  life,  for  his  more  intimate  in- 
tercourse with  God,  and  if  so  be,  for  the  magnificent 
operations  of  heroic  sanctity.  Meanwhile,  if  he  dies 
before  the  use  of  reason,  there  is  secured  to  him  the 
eternal  vision  of  God,  with  all  the  intellectual  glories 
of  an  immortal  spirit,  whose  intelligence  had  never 
been  developed  on  earth  at  all.  Now  all  this  haste,  if 
we  may  so  speak,  with  which  the  divine  mercy  seizes 
the  infant's  soul,  refusing  to  wait  for  his  consent,  or 
till  he  can  accept  God's  great  gift  by  a  rational  act  of 
his  own,  implies  such  a  determined  and  exuberant 
love  on  the  part  of  the  Creator  that  it  is  not  easily  to 
be  conceived  that  the  rest  of  the  process  of  salvation 
shall  not  partake  of  the  same  character  of  divine  im- 
patience and  facility. 

THE    IMMACULATK    CONCEPTION. 

"My  daughter,"  said  the  Saviour  Jesus  to  a  holy 
soul  one  day,  '*I  wish  to  speak  to  you  to-day  of  My 
Mother.  Her  conception  was  immaculate;  and  so  it 
needed  to  be,  in  order  that  she  might  be  worthy  of 
Me.  I  am  Sanctity  Itself;  now,  could  I  have  become 
incarnate  in  a  body  which  had  been  stained  by  sin? 
All  the  substance  of  My  Body  was  taken  from  the 
body  of  Mary;  consequently  if  Mary's  flesh  had  been, 
even  for  a  single  instant  stained  by  sin.  My  Flesh 
would  have  been  a  flesh  over  which  sin  had  for  an 
instant  held  dominion;  and  this  was  incompatible  with 
My  Divinity  and  My  Sanctify.  This  is  why  Mary, 
who  was  destined  to  be  My  Mother,  was  exempt  from 
original  sin;  this  is  why,  from  the  first  moment  of  her 
conception,  Mary  received  from  Me,  sanctity  as  her 
'''Faber. 


ST,  JAMES  THE  LESS.  65 

between  Abyssinia  and  Egypt.  It  was  thus  that  by 
an  arrangement  of  Providence,  every  Apostle  should 
rest,  even  after  his  death,  in  the  country  assigned  to 
him  for  the  planting  of  the  Gospel,  until  the  day  when 
Rome,  to  save  their  precious  relics  from  profanation, 
would  bring  them  to  her  bosom.* 

ST.  JAMES   THE    I.ESS,  APOSTLE. 

St.  James  the  Less  was  the  son  of  Alpheus  and 
Mary,  a  near  relation  of  the  Blessed  Virgin.  St. 
Jerome  and  St.  Epiphanius  inform  us  that  the  Saviour 
at  the  moment  of  His  ascension,  recommended  to  him 
the  Church  of  Jerusalem,  and  that,  in  consequence, 
the  Apostles  established  him  Bishop  of  that  city,  when 
they  were  separating  to  preach  the  Gospel.  The 
holy  Bishop  of  Jerusalem  made  the  Jews  respect  him, 
in  spite  of  the  fury  with  which  they  persecuted  Chris- 
tians. It  was  about  the  year  59  that  he  wrote  the 
letter  which  bears  his  name.  It  is  entitled  Catholic 
or  Universal,  because  it  was  not  addressed  to  any 
particular  Church,  but  to  all  the  converted  Jews  in 
general,  scattered  over  various  parts  of  the  earth. 
The  Apostle  therein  refutes  the  errors  of  some  false 
doctors,  who  taught  that  Faith  alone  would  suffice  for 
salvation,  and  accordingly  that  good  works  would  be 
useless.  He  also  lays  down  some  excellent  rules  for 
leading  a  holy  life,  and  exhorts  the  faithful  to  receive 
the  Sacrament  of  Extreme  Unction  in  their  sicknesses. 

At  the  same  period,  St.  Paul  having  eluded,  by  his 
appeal  to  the  emperor,  the  evil  designs  of  the  Jews, 
the  latter  determined  to  satisfy  their  rage  on  the  holy 
Bishop  of  Jerusalem.  Ananus.  a  worthy  son  of  the 
the  infamous  Annas  mentioned  in  the  Gospel,  assem- 
bled  the  Sanhedrim,  and  had  St.  James,  with  many 


66  THE  APOSTLES. 

other  Christians,  brought  forward  for  trial.  The 
Apostle  was  accused  of  having  violated  the  I^aw  of 
Moses,  and  was  condemned  to  be  stoned.  Before  being 
delivered  to  the  people,  he  was  taken  up  to  the  platform 
of  the  temple;  there  he  was  asked  to  deny  his  Faith  in 
such  a  w^ay  as  to  be  heard  by  every  one.  He  was  told 
that  this  would  be  a  means  of  undeceiving  those  whom 
he  had  seduced.  The  Saint,  far  from  doing  what  was 
required  of  him,  began  to  confess  Jesus  Christ  in  the 
most  solemn  terms.  The  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  mad 
with  indignation,  cried  out,  "What,  the  just  man  is 
gone  astray,  too!"  They  rushed  in  all  haste  to  the 
place  where  he  stood,  and  cast  him  down  headlong. 
St.  James  was  not  killed  by  the  fall;  he  had  yet 
strength  enough  to  place  himself  on  his  knees.  In 
this  posture  he  raised  his  eyes  to  heaven  and  im- 
plored of  God  the  pardon  of  his  murderers,  saying  like 
his  Divine  Master,  "For  they  know  not  what  they  do." 
The  populace  rained  on  him  a  shower  of  stones,  till  at 
length  they  fuller  completed  the  work  by  striking  him 
on  the  head  with  a  club,  such  as  is  used  in  dressing  cloth. 
This  happened  on  the  festival  of  the  Pasch,  the  loth  of 
April,  in  the  year  of  Our  Lord,  6i.  Such  was  the 
opinion  entertained  by  the  Jews  concerning  the  death 
of  the  venerable  Bishop,  that  they  attributed  to  his  un- 
just death  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem 

SS.  JUDB,  SIMON,  AND  MATTHIAS,  APOSTLES. 

St.  Jude  was  surnamed  Thaddeus,  which  means 
praue^  and  Lebbeus,  which  means  a  man  of  intelligence. 
He  was  the  brother  of  St.  James,  the  Less,  and  a  near 
relation  of  the  Divine  Master.  Chosen  like  the  rest  to 
deliver  the  world  from  the  sway  of  the  devil,  he  quit- 
ted Judea  after  Pentecost,  made  his  way  into  Africa, 


SS.  JUDE,  SIMON  AND  MATTHIAS,  67 

and  planted  the  faith  in  Lybia.  In  the  year  62  St. 
Jude  returned  to  Jerusalem,  and  assisted  at  the  elec- 
tion of  St.  Simon,  his  brother,  as  Bishop  of  that  city. 
It  is  recorded  that  he  died  at  Ararat  in  Armenia.  One 
thing  is  certain,  to  this  day  the  Armenians  honor  SS. 
Bartholomew  and  Jude  as  their  first  apostles.  We 
have  an  epist}e  from  St.  Jude,  addressed  to  all  the 
Churches,  and  especially  to  the  converted  Jews.  Its 
chief  object  was  to  fortify  the  Faithful  against  the  ris- 
ing heresies  of  the  Nicolites  and  Gnostics. 

All  that  is  known  of  St.  Simon  is  that  the  ardor  of 
his  zeal  for  the  glory  of  His  Divine  Master  obtained 
for  him  the  surname  of  The  Zealous,  and  that  he  evan- 
gelized Mesopotamia,  Egypt,  and  Mauritania.  The 
martyrologies  of  St.  Jerome,  Bede,  Ado,  and  Usuard, 
place  his  martyrdom  in  Persia,  in  a  city  called  Suanir, 
and  they  attribute  his  death  to  the  fury  of  the  idola- 
ters. 

St.  Matthias,  a  few  days  after  Pentecost,  was  elected 
by  the  Apostles  as  a  substitute  for  Judas  Iscariot.  Wc 
are  not  acquainted  with  the  particulars  either  of  his 
evangelical  conquests  in  Judea  and  Hthiopia.  or  of  his 
death.  His  life,  like  that  of  St.  Simon,  is  hidden 
in  Jesus  Christ,  and  written  only  by  the  Angels  in  the 
imperishable  book  of  eternity. 

ST.   MARK,  EV.\NGKUST. 

St.  Mark  was  of  Jewish  origin.  Drawn  to  the  Faith 
by  the  Apostles  after  the  Ascension,  he  became  the 
companion  of  St.  Peter.  The  Head  of  the  Apostolic 
College  having  in  his  first  journey  to  Rome  converted 
a  great  many  persons,  it  was  at  the  request  of  these 
new  believers,  and  especially  of  the  Roman  Knights, 
that  St.  Mark  wrote  his  Gospel.  He  collected  all  that 
1.  Gaumt. 


68  THE  APOSTLES. 

he  had  heard  from  the  Apostle,  and  formed  his  work 
thereof.  St.  Peter  was  delighted  with  the  longing 
that  the  Christians  showed  for  the  word  of  life.  He 
approved  of  St.  Mark's  Gospel,  and  impressed  upon  it 
the  seal  of  his  authority,  that  it  might  be  read  in  the 
assemblies  of  the  faithful.  The  Apostle,  departing 
again  for  the  East,  sent  St.  Mark  into  Egypt  with  the 
title  of  Bishop  of  Alexandria,  which  was,  after  Rome, 
the  most  celebrated  city  in  the  world. 

St.  Mark  preached  during  the  space  of  twelve  years 
in  various  parts  of  Egypt,  after  which  he  came  to 
Alexandria,  where  in  a  little  while  he  formed  a  very 
numerous  church.  The  astonishing  progress  of  Chris- 
tianity set  the  Pagans  in  such  a  rage  that  they  decided 
on  destroying  the  instrument  of  so  many  wonders;  but 
St.  Mark  found  a  means  of  concealing  himself  for  some 
time.  At  last  he  was  discovered,  as  he  was  celebrat- 
ing Mass.  The  boldest  among  the  Pagans  laid  hold  of 
him,  bound  him  fast  with  cords,  and  dragged  him 
along  the  streets,  crying  out  that  he  must  be  led  to 
Bucoles,  which  was  a  place  near  the  sea,  full  of  rocks 
and  precipices.  This  happened  on  the  24th  of  April, 
in  the  year  68,  the  fourteenth  year  of  the  reign  of 
Nero. 

The  saint  was  dragged  about  during  the  whole  day. 
The  ground  and  the  stones  were  spotted  with  his 
blood,  and  every  where  might  be  seen  pieces  of  his 
torn  flesh.  All  through  this  frightful  torture,  the  ven- 
erable old  man  never  ceased  to  bless  God  for  having 
thought  him  worthy  to  suffer  for  the  glory  of  His 
name.  When  evening  was  come,  the  Pagans  threw 
him  into  prison.  Next  morning  he  was  dragged  out 
again,  as  on  the  day  before,  and  under  so  many  cruel- 


^5.  MARK  AND  LUKE.  69 

ties  he  expired.  The  Christians  gathered  up  the 
remains  of  his  body,  and  interred  them  at  Bucoles,  in 
the  very  place  where  they  usually  assembled  for  prayer. 
St.  Mark  in  his  Gospel,  has  only  abridged  St.  Matthew. 
His  style  of  narration  is  concise:  it  has  all  the  charms 
of  an  elegant  simplicity.  After  the  example  of  St. 
Matthew,  he  makes  the  Saviour  known  to  us  as  a  Man, 
a  Legislator,  and  a  Model.  He  does  not  relate  what 
the  Son  of  God  said  in  praise  of  St.  Peter,  but  enters 
into  all  the  particulars  of  his  denial,  in  order  to  gratify 
the  holy  Apostle's  humility. 

ST.  LUKE.  EVANGKLIST. 

St  Luke  was  a  native  of  Antioch,  the  metropolis  of 
Syria,  where  he  laid  the  foundation  of  many  excellent 
studies,  which  he  afterwards  perfected  by  traveling  into 
Greece  and  Egypt.  His  taste  inclined  him  particularly 
towards  medicine,  but  it  seems  that  it  was  only  after  his 
conversion  to  Christianity  that  charity  induced  him  to 
practice  an  art  which  he  found  to  be  compatible  with 
the  labors  of  an  apostolic  ministry.  St.  Jerome  assures 
us  that  he  excelled  in  it;  and  all  tradition  adds  that  he 
was  no  less  expert  in  painting. 

He  was  already  a  perfect  model  of  cvcr>'  virtue,  when 
St.  Paul  chose  him  to  be  his  companion  and  fellow- 
laborer  about  the  year  51.  These  two  great  saints 
never  afterwards  separated,  except  at  intervals  and 
when  the  neccessities  of  the  Church  reijuired  it.  St. 
Luke  followed  the  great  apostle  to  Rome  in  6a,  when 
the  latter  was  sent  thither  a  prisoner,  and  did  not  leave 
him  till  he  had  the  happiness  of  seeing  him  released  in 
63. 

This  same  year  he  completed  the  Acts  of  the  Apot- 
Gaunu, 


70  THE  EVANGELISTS. 

ties,  a  valuable  history  which  he  had  undertaken  at 
Rome  by  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  It  forms 
as  it  were  a  continuation  of  his  Gospel.  He  proposes 
to  himself  therein  to  refute  the  false  accounts  that 
were  published  regarding  the  lives  and  labors  of  the 
founders  of  Christianity,  and  to  leave  an  authentic 
record  of  the  wonders  that  God  had  wrought  in  favor 
of  His  Church,  an  unanswerable  proof  of  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  Saviour  and  the  divinity  of  the  Gospel. 
After  the  death  of  St.  Paul,  the  Evangelist  preached 
in  India  and  Dalmatia.  He  terminated  his  long  career 
by  a  glorious  martyrdom. 

SYMBOLS   OF   THE   FOUR   EVANGELISTS. 

St.  Irenaeus,  St.  Jerome,  and  St.  Augustine  find  a 
symbol  of  the  Evangelists  in  the  four  mysterious  fig- 
ures of  Ezeckiel  and  the  Apocalypse.  Hence,  the  por- 
trait of  each  of  the  Evangelists  is  usually  accompanied 
with  one  of  these  symbols.  It  is  generally  agreed  that 
the  eagle  denotes  St.  John,  who,  at  the  very  outset 
rises  to  the  Deity,  there  to  contemplate  the  Word. 
The  ox  is  symbolic  of  St.  Luke,  who  begins  by  making 
mention  of  the  priesthood  of  the  God  Man,  and  the 
sacrifice  of  Zachary.  St.  Matthew  is  represented  by 
the  figure  of  a  man,  because  he  begins  by  relating  the 
temporal  generation  of  the  Saviour,  with  whose  sa- 
cred humanity  he  desires  to  acquaint  us.  Last  of  all 
the  lion  characterizes  St.  Mark,  because  he  explains 
the  royal  dignity  of  the  Saviour,  the  true  lion  of  the 
fold  of  Juda,  and  begins  with  his  retreat  in  the  desert, 
the  usual  abode  of  the  lion. 

ST.  PETER,  APOSTLE. 
St.   Peter,   Prince  and   Primate  of  the  Apostles,  at 
their  dispersion,  first  went  to  Caesarea,  afterwards  to 


ST.   PETER.  rt 

Antioch,  where  the  Gospel  was  making  rapid  progress. 
It  was  here  that  the  disciples  were  first  called  Chris- 
tians. According  to  the  division  of  the  world  which 
the  Apostles  made  among  themselves,  St.  Peter  was 
destined  to  carry  the  Gospel  to  the  capital  of  the  Ro- 
man Empire,  but  he  did  not  immediately  execute  his 
design.  The  moment  of  Divine  Providence  had  not 
arrived.  While  awaiting  it,  he  was,  by  the  common 
consent  of  the  Apostles,  established  Bishop  of  Antioch, 
the  capital  of  Syria.  It  is  believed  that  he  ruled  this 
Church  for  seven  years.  This  does  not  mean  that  he 
constantly  remained  there.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
indefatigable  Apostle  preached  during  this  time  to  the 
Jews  scattered  through  all  Asia — in  Pontus.  in  Gala- 
tia,  in  Bithynia,  and  in  Cappadocia.  Notwithstand- 
ing these  painful  labors  the  Vicar  of  the  Son  of  God 
led  an  exceedingly  frugal  life.  St.  Gregory  Nazianzen 
tells  us  that  he  was  content  with  eating  daily  a  half- 
penny worth  of  lupins,  which  are  a  kind  of  beans. 

Meanwhile  Herod,  surnamed  Agrippa.  had  renewed 
the  persecutions  against  the  Christians.  He  had  already 
put  to  death  St.  James,  the  brother  of  St.  John,  the 
Evangelist.  To  this  unjust  death  he  wished  to  add 
that  of  St.  Peter.  The  Chief  Pastor  of  the  Church 
having  returned  to  Jerusalem,  was  therefore  arrested 
and  cast  into  a  narrow  pri.son.  bound  by  a  double 
chain.  Here  he  was  guarded  by  sixteen  soldiers,  di- 
vided into  four  bands,  so  as  to  succeed  one  another. 
Two  were  near  the  prisoner  day  and  night,  the  other 
two  kept  sentry  before  the  door. 

Peter  was  miraculously  delivered,  and  then  left  Je- 
rusalem as  soon  as  possible,  and  made  his  way  to  the 
maritime   frontier  of  Judea.     He  visited  the  young 


n  SS  PETER  AND  MARK, 

Churches  and  established  Bishops  everywhere,  dis- 
tributing the  benefits  of  his  doctrine  and  miracles.  At 
length  he  resolved  to  go  to  Rome. 

SS.  PETER  AND  MARK  ENTER  ROME. 

On  the  fifteenth  of  the  Calends  of  February  in  the 
year  from  the  building  of  the  city  DCCXCVI,  Clau- 
dius Augustus  for  the  third,  and  Lucius  Vitellius  for 
the  second  time,  being  consuls,  there  entered  the  gates 
of  Rome  two  lowly  wayfarers  from  Palestine. 

They  might  have  passed  for  father  and  son,  if  one 
attended  solely  to  their  years,  but  from  the  contour 
and  deportment  of  the  younger  of  them,  in  whom  the 
gravity  of  manhood  was  still  blended  with  the  modest 
gracefulness  of  youth,  it  was  easy  to  discern  that  no 
tie  of  earthly  kindred  united  him  to  the  venerable 
man  by  whose  side  he  walked  w  ith  the  reverential  air 
of  a  disciple.* 

Three  score  years  and  upwards  seemed  to  have 
passed  over  the  old  man's  head.  It  was  bald  and 
shorn  upon  the  crown,  and  encircled  by  a  fillet  or 
wreath  of  hair,  like  to  that  of  his  beard,  which  was  not 
white  or  flowing,  but  crispy  and  of  a  silvery  gray. 
His  brow  was  elevated,  as  if  in  lofty  thought.  His 
cheeks  were  furrowed  with  contrition.  His  whole  as- 
pect was  pale  and  of  an  expression  that  imparted  a  cer- 
tain air  of  dignity  to  a  person  rather  less  than  the  mid- 
dle size.  His  eye,  vivid  as  the  lightning  of  heaven, 
indicated  an  impetuous  spirit,  but  its  glance  was  tem- 
pered by  humility.  A  reed  terminating  in  a  cross  was 
his  only  staff,  and  even  that  he  seemed  to  carry  rather 
as  an  emblem  of  his  mission  than  to  alleviate  his  pil- 
grimage or  sustain  the  infirmity  of  his  years.     About 

*Miley. 


ENTRY  INTO  ROME.  73 

him  there  was  an  air  of  mystery  that  confounded  the 
conjecture  it  excited.  He  looked  like  an  ambassador, 
the  agent  of  some  mighty  enterprise;  yet,  who  more 
destitute  of  everything  that  is  wont  to  distinguish  the 
representative  of  a  terrestial  potentate?  Unheralded 
and  unadorned  by  pomp,  jaded  and  travel-stained ,  he 
journeyed  on  with  his  meek  companion — barefooted 
and  in  silence.  If  heeded,  it  was  to  be  scoffed  at,  or 
eyed  with  contempt  by  the  proud  and  gorgeous  multi- 
tudes thronging  to  the  metropolis  of  all  nations. 

Embassies  vying  with  each  other  in  the  costliness 
and  singularity  of  their  gifts,  and  in  the  splendors  of 
their  retinues — envoys  even  from  the  climes  of  India, 

**Dusk  faces  with  white  silken  turbans  wreathed," 
astrologers  from  Chaldea,  merchants  and  magicians, 
priests  and  sorcerers  from  Egypt,  Asiatic  monarchs 
upon  elephants  caparisoned  with  jewelry  and  gold, 
Moorish  Kings  and  Parthian  satraps,  with  squadrons 
of  wild  horsemen  from  beyond  the  Hydaspes  and 
Mount  Atlas: 

"Praetors,  pro-consuls  to  their  provinces 
Hastening,  or  on  return  in  robes  of  state, 
Lictors  with  rods,  the  ensigns  of  their  power, 
Legions  and  Cohorts,  turms  of  horse  and  wings;" 

men  of  all  colors,  and  costumes,  and  degrees  of  civili- 
zation, from  the  Ethiop,  the  Arab,  and  the  Sarmatian, 
to  the  Attic  Greek — the  pomp,  the  chivalry,  and 
stately  religion  of  the  whole  Roman  world,  seemed  to 
be  grouped  together,  and  interwoven  in  that  concourse 
(brilliant  and  interminable  as  the  march  of  Xerxes), 
as  it  moved  along  the  Appian  way,  like  an  august  pro- 
cession, bearing  the  tributes  and  the  offerings  of  all 


74  55.  PETER  AND  MARK. 

people  to  the  queen  of  empire,  and  the  domicile  of  the 
pagan  gods. 

Tombs  and  stately  mausoleums,  adorned  with  pre- 
cious marbles,  with  statuary,  and  elegiac  inscription, 
lined  the  great  thoroughfare,  on  either  side,  for  many 
a  mile  before  it  passed  beneath  the  city  gate;  and  as 
Death  had  come  out  to  welcome  the  myriads  hastening 
to  his  carnival,  the  brave,  the  gay,  and  the  ambitious 
in  pressing  forward  were  encountered  by  the  funeral 
processions,  which  issued  forth  towards  the  suburbs  in 
all  the  ostentatious  circumstances  of  mourning.* 

First  in  the  sad  procession  went  musicians  of  various 
kinds,  pipers,  trumpters,  and  players  upon  a  long  flute 
that  made  a  grave  and  dismal  .^^ound;  then  nursing 
women  called  praejicae,  rehearsing  the  praises  of  the 
dead  in  a  wild  dirge,  or  rhapsody,  which  they  chanted 
like  so  many  priestesses  of  grief.  Next  came  buffoons 
and  pantomimes,  who  danced  and  sung;  one  of  them 
called  the  arch  mimic,  imitating  the  gestures  and  ex- 
pressions, and  in  every  respect,  supporting  the  charac- 
ter of  the  deceased.  Then  followed  his  freedmen, 
wearing  caps  in  token  of  their  liberty — they  like  the 
rest,  bearing  lighted  torches  called  funales  from  being 
made  of  twisted  hemp.  Immediately  before  the  corpse, 
borne  upon  Siledica  or  couch,  decorated,  were  carried  in 
chariots  or  on  couches  the  images  of  the  deceased  and 
of  his  ancestors,  in  the  same  complexion  and  garb  as 
when  alive;  so  that  each  one's  remains  seemed  to  be 
conducted,  by  the  long  line  of  his  progenitors  to  the 
tomb. 

If  the  deceased   had  distinguished  himself  in  war, 
the  crowns  and  rewards  which  he  had  received  for  his 
valor  were  displayed,   together    with  the  spoils   and 
"^Miley. 


PALACE  OF  LATERANUS,  75 

Standards  he  had  won  in  battle.  The  fasces  and  the 
curule  chair  were  borne  before  the  magistrate;  the  con- 
queror was  preceded  by  his  war-horse,  his  triumphal 
chariot,  the  representations  of  the  provinces  he  had 
subdued,  and  of  the  cities  he  had  taken.  Behind  the 
bier  walked  the  friends  of  the  deceased  clad  in  mourn- 
ing; his  sons  with  their  heads  veiled,  his  daughters 
with  their  hair  dishevelled,  magistrates  without  their 
badges,  the  nobility  without  their  ornaments;  and  a 
long  line  of  clients  and  domestics  usually  closed  the 
funeral. 

As  the  pilgrims  moved  slowly  onward  through  the 
double  range  of  sepulchres,  there  was  no  vicissitude  or 
incident  connected  with  the  burial  of  the  dead  that 
was  not  brought  under  their  observation. 

Absorbed  in  thought  upon  these  occurrences  Peter 
turned  aside  from  the  great  Appian  thoroughfare, 
close  to  the  tombs  of  the  Horatii  and  crossed  the  Via 
Latina,  in  order  to  reach  the  Asinarian  gate  which  was 
comparatively  unfrequented. 

Immediately  within  the  walls,  to  the  left,  there  stood 
a  palace  upon  that  gentle  eminence  called  Grii  Man^ 
ta7ia,  of  extent  and  aspect  so  imposing  that  it  might 
have  been  mistaken  for  the  abode  of  Caesar;  yet  it  was 
to  this  edifice  the  lowly  wayfarer  directed  his  steps, 
without  a  moment's  hesitation,  for  it  was  the  first  he 
met.  The  gates  of  bronze  were  fiung  wide  open,  and 
looked  as  burnished  and  stately  as  the  portals  of 
Olympus.  The  pilgrim  a.scended  the  marble  flight 
which  led  to  the  platform  in  front  of  the  portico, 
entered  the  vestibule  mtekly,  but  still  with  the  unhes- 
itating tread  of  one  who  is  conscious  that  his  errand 
deserves  a  welcome;  nor  was  he  barred  of  entrance  by 


76  55.  PETER  AND  MARK. 

the  ostiarii  or  porters,  who  lounged  about,  nor  did  he 
pause  himself  until  he  came  to  the  first  atrium  or 
grand  reception- hall. 

A  hundred  columns  of  jasper  sustained  its  roof — a 
dome  covered*  with  lamina,  or  valves  of  gold  inlaid 
with  diamonds,  and  enamelled  paintings  in  the  most 
exquisite  manner  of  the  Greeks.  The  frieze,  rivalling 
that  of  the  Parthenon  in  beauty,  represented  a  triumph 
during  the  Marsic  war.  The  wainscot  around  the 
walls — consisting  of  rafe  and  beauteous  marbles,  the 
undulated  Thasian,  or  Carystian,  the  vermiculated 
Phrygian  spotted  with  the  blood  of  Atys — was  trimmed 
with  ivory  and  decorated  with  beautiful  medallions 
and  arabesques.  In  arcades  behind  the  peristyle,  were 
ranged  in  chronological  order,  tribunes  of  the  people, 
censors — the  long  line  of  statesmen,  patriots,  and  great 
captains,  who  had  shed  lustre  on  a  house  renowned, 
even  in  Rome,  for  its  ancestral  laurels.  The  tablinium 
was  hung  with  portraits,  some  of  them  as  old  as  the 
times  of  Fabius  Pictor.  For  the  most  part,  the  ima- 
ges were  enshrined  in  costly  tabernacles  overshadowed 
with  trophies,  and  the  lamps  of  purest  gold  that 
burned  before  them,  were  tended  as  religiously  as  the 
fire  of  Vesta.  In  the  centre  of  the  hall,  which  was  of 
a  circular  form,  there  was  an  altar  to  Jupiter  Hospita- 
lis,  with  no  canopy  above  it,  but  the  heavens,  expand- 
ing over  the  orifice  in  the  dome  like  an  awning  of 
transparent  azure;  and  from  this  there  descended  a 
flood  of  splendor  that  inundated  the  entire  atrium — 
tinging  its  furniture  and  ornaments  with  the  radiance 
of  enchantment.* 

The  pilgrims  continued  to  advance  through  galler- 
ies, halls,  and  suites  of  stately  apartments  without 
'^GelVs  Pompeiana. 


PALACE  OF  LATERANUS,  Tl 

end,  a  labyrinth  of  ever-increasing  splendor,  but  they 
paused  not  to  gaze  or  wonder  at  the  strange  magnifi- 
cence. The  entire  place  was  lighted  up  and  decorated 
for  some  grand  festivity,  as  if  for  the  reception  of  a 
bride.  Yet  there  was  no  one  to  be  seen,  save  now  and 
then  a  slave  gliding  like  a  melancholy  vision  over  the 
noiseless  pavement  to  tend  the  lamps,  or  scatter  per- 
fumes and  sweet-scented  leaves.  The  song  of  one  hand- 
maid, as  she  adjusted  a  lily  in  a  garland,  startled  the 
venerable  pilgrim,  as  if  it  had  been  a  parable: 

"Thou,  too,  for  thy  bloom  art  cherish'd; 
But  when  that  bloom  hath  perish'd. 
Thou,  too,  shall  be  flung  away." 

At  last  the  voluptuous  swell  of  music  came  from  a 
distance  upon  the  ear,  and,  directed  by  the  sound,  the 
pilgrims  came  to  the  interior  recesses  of  the  people, 
where  lay  the  triclinium  or  hall  of  feast. 

It  was  a  sumptuous  hall,  oblong  in  form,  and  di- 
vided, as  to  style  of  decoration  and  arrangement,  into 
two  unequal  parts.  The  greater  division  was  occu- 
pied by  the  guests,  disposed  upon  couches,  on  that 
side  only  of  the  tables  next  the  colonnades,  so  that  the 
various  attendants  and  ministers  of  the  feast  were  free 
to  move  about  on  the  centre  space,  extending  from  the 
cross- table  at  the  head,  between  the  two  lateral  ones, 
down  to  the  second  or  lesser  division  of  the  hall,  occu- 
pied by  the  orchestra  and  the  stage  for  jugglers,  dan- 
cers and  pantomimes,  who  exhibited  during  intervals 
of  the  long  protracted  banquet.  Taste,  the  most  re- 
fined, directing  the  arts,  then  in  the  meridian  of  per- 
fection, and  administered  to  by  unbounded  opulence, 
had  exhausted  every  resource  uj)on  this  sanctuary  of 
indulgence.     The  ceilings  that  beamed  with  the  efful- 


78  55.  PETER  AND  MARK. 

gence  of  a  golden  firmament  glittering  with  star-like 
gems,  were  so  contrived  as  to  vary  in  aspect  with  the 
.successive  courses,  and  from  them  showers  as  it  were 
of  the  most  exhilirating  and  aromatic  dews  were  made 
to  distil  upon  the  languishing  voluptuaries.  The 
hangings  were  of  Tyrian  purple.  Flowers  in  festoons 
were  suspended  from  the  arcades  and  niches,  where 
stood  Apollo,  the  Muses,  Venus,  Psyche,  the  Graces, 
and  the  quiver-armed  god.  Endless,  in  short,  was  the 
variety  of  scenes  and  emblems  that  had  been  conceived 
by  poetic  fancy  to  revel  in  that  temple  of  delights, 
and  triumphant  art,  as  with  a  wand,  had  given  them 
the  very  air  and  breath  of  life. 

The  mosaic  pavement,  figured  with  the  most  gro- 
tesque devices,  was  scattered  over  with  the  soft  pow- 
der of  odorous  wood,  damped  with  saffron,  vermillion, 
and  other  brilliant  dyes.  It  glittered  with  filings  of 
gold  and  the  dust  of  the  sparkling  stone.  The  board 
of  the  feast,  made  of  citron  wood  from  the  furthest 
confines  of  Mauritania,  was  supported  on  feet  of  ivory, 
and  covered  with  a  leaf  or  plateau  of  silver  elegantly 
-enchased.  The  couches,  each  of  which  accommodated 
three,  were  made  of  bronze,  overlaid  with  silver,  gold, 
and  tortoiseshell;  the  mattresses  were  of  Gallic  wool, 
dyed  purple;  the  pillows  and  cushions  of  the  softest 
down  were  covered  with  the  priceless  embroidery  of 
Babylon.* 

Abandoned  to  every  effeminacy  as  they  lolled  upon 
these  beds  like  so  many  deities  on  sunlit  clouds,  the 
lordly  voluptuaries  were  regaled  with  every  dainty  of 
air,  earth,  and  ocean,  while  nymph- like  and  obsequi- 
ous forms  were  stationed  with  fans  and  vases  of  per- 
fume, or  moved  around  the  couches  to  sounds  of  soft 
GelVs  Pornpeiana, 


PALACE  OF  LATERANUS.  79 

melody  with  goblets  of  racy  wine.  Others  burned  in- 
cense, or  placed  fresh  viands  and  flowers  on  the  altars 
of  the  household  deities,  or  fed  with  fragrant  oil  the 
lamps  and  candelabra  that  cast  a  mellow  splendor  over 
the  entire  scene. 

The  strains  of  enchanting  music  which  had  guided 
the  pilgrims  from  a  distance,  seemed  to  faint  away  and 
die  in  swanlike  agonies,  and  all  was  still  and  breath- 
less, as  in  a  dream,  when  that  venerable  stranger  and 
his  disciple  appeared  upon  the  threshold  of  that  hall  of 
pleasure.  Their  eyes  were  downcast,  and  it  was  well, 
for  ill  would  they  have  brooked  to  look  upon  mysteries 
of  wantoness  and  flnshadow;ed  sin.  The  Apostle  lifted 
his  hands  as  if  to  bless,  saying  "Peace  to  this  house!** 
"And  to  all  who  dwell  within  it,"  responded  his 
disciple." 

Like  the  summer  sea  when  the  tornado  breathes 
upon  it,  the  lord  of  the  feast  sprang  up.  He  shool^ 
his  hands,  he  shrieked  in  transports  of  fury  at  the 
messengers  who  had  come  with  a  great  blessing  to  his 
house;  and  they  seized  them,  and  cast  them  forth. 

"O  my  divine  Master!  it  is  just!"  said  the  venerable 
man,  as  he  was  lifted  by  his  disciple  from  where  they 
had  left  him  for  death:  "it  is  meet  and  congruous,  for 
Thou  also  didst  come  to  Thine  own,  and  Thine  own 
received  Thee  not,  but  disowned  and  rejected  Thee 
with  ignominious  injuries.  Why,  therefore,  should 
not  Thy  unworthy  vice-regent,  on  entering  his  own 
city,  for  the  first  time,  be  treated  like  Thee  with  in- 
sult? But  suffer  not,  O  Lord,  that  our  first  benedic- 
tion in  this  predestinated  see  and  metropolis  of  Thy 
Kingdom,  shall  prove  abortive!  Yes,  they  have 
rejected  thy  peace,"  he  continues,  after  a  moment's 


80  55.  PETER  AND  MARK. 

ecstacy,  as  he  gazed  upon  the  palace  of  Lateranus  (for 
Platius  Lateranus  was  the  lord  of  the  palace  and  the 
feast)  "and,  therefore,  that  proud  pile  shall  fall;  but 
upon  its  ruins  shall  rise  the  mother  and  the  queen  of  a 
regenerated  world!"* 

St.  Peter,  the  prince  of  the  Apostles  * 'shook  the  dust 
from  his  feet,"  and  with  his  meek  disciple  and  amanu- 
ensis, St.  Mark,  pursued  his  way  rejoicing. 

The  prophecy  of  St.  Peter  was  fulfilled;  the  Lateran 
Palace  became  the  property  of  the  Emperors,  and  it 
was  afterwards  given  by  Constantine  the  Great  to 
Pope  St.  Sylvester,  with  other  rich  possessions  in 
Rome  and  Italy. 

ST.  PETER  IN  THE  PAI.ACE  OF  PUDENS. 

Thrasia  Petus. — ''Whom  the  gods  love  die  young, 
Servilius;  for  instance,  who  has  not  heard  of  Tropho- 
nius  and  Agamedes,  who  built  Apollo's  temple  at 
Delphi  ?  Prostrate  before  the  shrine  they  besought  the 
god,  not  indeed  for  any  trifling  recompense,  nor  yet  for 
anything  definite,  but,  in  general  terms,  for  the  best 
blessing  that  could  be  conferred  on  mortals,  to  whom 
Apollo  promised,  that  the  object  of  their  prayer  should 
be  granted  them,  on  the  morning  of  the  third  day  from 
thente — when  it  dawned  both  were  found  dead."t 

Lucan — ''Again;  there  were  the  two  sons  of  Argias, 
Cleobis  and  Biton.  The  story  is  well  known.  On  a 
great  festival  their  father  set  out  in  the  lofty  chariot 
in  which  it  was  his  privilege  to  be  drawn  when  going 
to  sacrifice;  between  the  town  and  the  temple  while 
yet  a  good  distance  from  the  latter,  the  oxen  stopped, 
and  refused  to  go  any  further.  It  was  then  that  the 
*Miley. 
■\Tusc.  quaest. 


THE  PALACE  OF  PUDENS.  81 

youths,  above-mentioned,  stripped  off  their  garments, 
and  having  anointed  their  bodies  with  oil,  yoked 
themselves  to  the  chariot,  and  so,  drew  Argias  their 
father  to  the  temple.  When  arrived,  he  is  said  to 
have  implored  the  goddess  to  grant  his  sons,  in 
requital  of  their  piety,  the  greatest  blessing  in  her 
gift.  After  feasting  sumptuously  with  their  mother, 
they  went  to  sleep,  and  were  found  dead  in  the 
morning." 

Se7ieca — ''Besides,  Annaeus,  what  signifies  the 
longest  life  ?  What  is  infancy  to-day,  is  youthhood 
to-morrow,  and,  in  the  career  of  existence,  old  age, 
with  swift  and  silent  stride,  pursues,  and  has  over- 
taken us  before  we  dream  that  he  is  near.  From  the 
waters  of  the  Hypanis,  which  flow  from  Europe  into 
Pontus,  we  learn  from  Aristotle,  that  little  insects  are 
generated  which  live  but  a  day.  Now,  one  of  these 
that  perishes,  say  at  the  eighth  hour,  may  be  said  to 
have  died  advanced  in  age;  and  that  one  sees  decrepi- 
tude which  survives  till  sunset.  Compare  with 
eternity  the  most  protracted  life,  and  does  not  our 
span  of  being  seem  brief  as  that  of  the  ephemeral 
insect."* 

Fetus  — 'Life!  alas,  what  is  it  but  a  loan  held  at  the 
caprice  of  nature?" 

Cassius. — "It  is  even  worse  Thrasea!  It  is  a 
despotism,  fawned  on  by  the  base.  O  Timotheus! 
thrice  happy,  yet  lamented  boy;  a  premature,  and 
therefore  an  enviable  death  has  rescued  thee,  not  only 
from  the  ordinary  ills  of  life,  but  frpm  the  inexpiable 
disgrace  of  acquiescing  in  the  degradation  of  thy 
country." 

Such  was  the  tenor  of  the  reflections  by  which  his 
*  T)isculan  Questions  Book  /. 


82  57:  PETER   IN  ROME. 

friends  endeavored  to  beguile  the  grief  of  Servilius 
Pudens,  a  venerable  senator,  from  whose  embrace  a 
son  and  heir — a  youth  of  extraordinary  promise,  had 
been  torn  away  by  death,  the  very  day  he  had  received 
the  manly  toga.  The  obsequies  celebrated  from  the 
first  with  patrician  pomp,  and  with  the  prodigality  of 
a  distracted  fondness,  had  been  resumed,  with  increas- 
ing ardor,  as  night,  for  the  third  time,  expanded  her 
wings  above  the  house  of  mourning;  and  like  the 
sounds  of  a  distant  ocean,  one  time  swelling,  another 
time  subsiding,  to  return  anon  with  a  hoarse  and  louder 
roar — the  reverberations  of  the  mirth  and  Saturnalian 
revelry,  that  reigned  in  every  triclinium,  hall,  and 
atrium  of  the  immense  palace — were  audible  at 
intervals  even  in  the  remote  apartment  where  the 
afnicted  Pudens  had  retired  with  the  most  illustrious 
of  his  kindred  and  acquaintance. 

Among  the  latter  were  nearly  all  the  most  dis- 
tinguished characters  of  the  age,  for  Pudens  like 
Pomponius  Atticus  had  the  singular  good  fortune  to 
be  courted  and  esteemed  by  the  best  and  greatest  of 
all  parties. 

Adorned  by  many  virtues,  Servilius  Pudens  was 
peculiarly  distinguished  for  his  hospitalities.  His 
domestics  and  the  retainers  of  his  palace,  had  it  in 
command  to  welcome  the  stranger,  and  to  dispense  his 
bounty  freely  to  those  who  came  for  sustenance  to  his 
gates;  but  it  was  himself  who  had  discharged  these 
kindly  offices  for  St.  Peter.  His  feelings  attuned  to 
more  exquisite  Sensibility  than  usual  by  domestic 
sorrow,  had  been  powerfully  affected  at  beholding  the 
marks  of  violence  and  indignity  still  fresh  upon  the 
meek  form  of  the  apostle  as  he  presented  himself  at 


THE  PALACE  OF  PUD  EN'S.  83 

his  gates;  and  how  it  was,  he  could  not  imagine,  but  a 
glow  of  ineffable  comfort  seemed  to  play  around  his 
heart,  when  the  venerable  pilgrim  pronounced  the 
benediction  of  peace  upon  his  house.  He  took  him  by 
the  hand  with  a  cordiality  which  told  his  welcome, 
had  him  treated  with  the  tenderest  solicitude,  and 
placed  him  amongst  his  own  chosen  guests,  where  the 
apostle  unnoticed  and  in  silence,  had  listened  to  the 
conference  of  the  patricians,  noting  the  vicissitudes  of 
hope  and  despondency  as  they  passed  across  their 
souls  like  alternations  of  sunshine  and  gloom. 

When  Caius  Cassius  bore  down  like  a  black  tempest, 
it  was  Pudens  alone  who  strove  to  make  head  against 
him,  maintaining  that  if  the  reasons  urged  against 
hope  were  powerful,  there  were  also  strong  arguments 
against  despair,  and  sternly  refusing  to  acquiesce  in 
atheism,  or  to  believe  that  a  universe,  so  full  of  order, 
as  to  fill  us  with  admiration  to  whatever  side  we  turn, 
is  undirected  by  a  Providence. 

"Who,"  he  cried,  "can  suggest  a  single  improve- 
ment in  the  great  fabric  of  creation  ?  No  mortal  shall 
ever  be  able  to  suggest  a  single  one,  and  should  any 
one  madly  make  the  attempt,  he  shall  not  mend,  but 
make  things  worse,  and  prove  that  his  own  notions  are 
incongruous,  for: — 'Whatever  is.  is  best.'  " 

"Thus  no  matter  to  what  side  we  turn — no  matter 
in  what  order  of  things  we  institute  research — every 
where  we  are  met  by  evidences,  that  all  things  are 
admirably  administered  by  divine  wisdom,  with  a  view 
to  the  general  advantage  and  for  the  conservation  of 
all." 

"But,"  replied  Cassius,  "the  hour  is  come  when  we 
must  depart  from  this  prison-cell — I,  through  the  gale 


84  57:  PETER  IN  ROME, 

of  death;  3'ou,  my  friends,  still  longer  to  enjoy  exist- 
ence; but  as  to  that  which  is  the  better  lot,  the 
immortal  gods  may  know;  but  that,  no  mortal  can 
tell,  I  am  convinced.  And  Marcus  Tullius,  after  all 
his  sublime  declamation  in  proof  of  the  soul's  immor- 
tality nay  of  its  divinity  comes  to  this:  'But  in 
speculating  on  the  soul's  destiny,'  he  says,  *we  are 
affected  somewhat  similarly  to  those,  who  from  gazing 
intently  on  the  setting  sun,  become  so  dazzled  as 
hardly  to  see  anything  at  all;  so  does  it  fare  with  the 
mind  in  contemplating  itself — all  power  of  fixing 
anything  with  precision  is  lost.  Whereupon,  bewild- 
ered, its  unsteady  ken  is  turned  in  every  direction,  full 
of  hesitation,  doubt  and  terror,  as  it  finds  itself  drifting 
away  like  a  bark  guideless  on  the  o'cean's  immensity.' 

"Instead  of  the  visions  which  philosophy  has 
taught  us  to  deride,  she  gives  us — can  give  us — 
nothing  in  return,  but  a  forlorn  consciousness  of 
ignorance  and  disappointment.  Far  from  being  a 
iDlessing  or  an  enviable  attribute,  reason,  as  we  are 
now  circumstanced,  is  a  bitter  curse;  and  better  far, 
-would  it  have  been,  had  we  never  been  endowed  with 
a  faculty,  not  to  be  exercised  but  with  ruin  to  our 
happiness.  As  to  religion,  it  has  only  aggravated  and 
and  multiplied  the  evils  by  which  we  are  overwhelmed. 

"May  malediction,  therefore  light  upon  the  day  of 
my  nativity,  and  may  it  be  drowned  in  bitterness. 
There  is  no  God — no  Providence  —no  hereafter.  The 
only  elysium  is  the  sty  of  Epicurus.  Never,  never, 
will  I  believe,  that  it  was  by  a  deity,  benign  and 
and  superlatively  wise,  that  man  was  brought  to  this 
extremity.  No,  nothing  but  a  ruthless  demon  could 
.have  flung  him  into  this   terrestrial  Tartarus — appar- 


THE  PALACE  OF  PUDENS.  85 

ently  for  no  fault  of  his — without  the  possibility  of 
liberation  or  redress." 

The  rising  of  St.  Peter  at  this  crisis,  was  like  that 
of  an  apparition  from  the  dead.  Astonishment  held 
the  patricians  mute;  and,  in  spite  of  his  rude  garb  and 
diction,  their  haughty  spirits  quailed  under  his  words; 
which  fell  upon  them  like  thunderbolts  of  inspiration. 
He  discoursed  upon  Jesus  of  Nazareth;  showed  that 
he  was  the  Christ,  the  deliverer,  the  promised,  the 
long-expected,  the  Saviour,  **the  way,  the  truth,  and 
the  life;"  the  way  rendered  plain  and  unmistakable  by 
His  own  example  and  leading  with  infallible  certainty 
to  heaven;— the  truth  long  searched  for,  in  vain,  by 
philosophy  now  revealed  audibly  by  the  voice  of  God^ 
to  be  held  by  faith  upon  authority — the  life,  not 
derived,  as  by  a  stream,  but  self-existing  as  in  the 
fountain-head  from  ail  eternity.  How  glorious  was 
the  plot  that  had  been  marred  by  disobedience;  and  how 
indispensable  to  the  re-establishment  of  order  was  the 
interposition  of  a  God!  Little  less  astounding  than  to 
hear  the  problem  solved  with  facility  by  a  Jewish 
fisherman,  which  had  baffled  all  the  pride  of  Greek 
genius  and  Roman  judgment,  was  it  to  discover  by 
what  a  flimsy,  transparent  gauze  of  origin,  and  fall  of 
man,  with  the  rest  of  primeval  truth  had  lain  con- 
cealed. 

But  what  remedy  will  our  foreign  teacher  apply  to 
the  disease  prevailing  all  around  Him,  the  contempt  of 
man  as  man,  and  of  human  life?  What  power  of  per- 
suasion does  he  bear  within  him,  which  was  wanting 
to  those  philosophers,  men  of  ability,  learning  and 
eloquence,  who  from  age  to  age,  and  out  of  every 
clime,  had  sought  in  Rome,  as  the  world's  centre,  to 
establish  a  doctrine  and  gather  a   following?      They 


86  ST.  PETER  IN  ROME, 

have  come  with  many  varied  gifts  of  human  genius, 
and  after  shining  for  a  while,  and  attracting  attention, 
have  dropped  away,  and  their  followers  after  them. 
But  the  stranger  of  whom  we  are  speaking  has  none 
of  these  gifts.  He  has  neither  the  wisdom  nor  the 
eloquence  of  the  Greeks;  he  is  even  without  the  learn- 
ing of  a  cultivated  mind;  a  fisherman  by  trade,  poor, 
old,  obscure,  a  foreigner  of  the  most  despised  race, 
how  can  he  succeed  as  a  teacher  among  these  lords  of 
the  world  ?  He  has  two  things  within  him  for  want  of 
which  society  was  perishing,  and  man  unhappy;  a  cer- 
tain knowledge  of  God  as  the  Creator,  Huler,  Judge, 
and  Reward  of  men,  and  of  man's  soul  made  after  the 
image  and  likeness  of  this  God.  In  this  name  he  will 
speak  to  Nero  and  his  court;  to  the  patrician,  the  free- 
man, and  the  slave,  he  will  speak;  the  few  will  listen 
and  belitrve;  the  many  will  reject  Presently  persecu- 
tion will  arise;  he  will  be  tried,  condemned,  and  cruci- 
fied on  a  hill  overlooking  the  city.  But  in  that  death 
he  will  take  possession  of  the  city  lying  beneath  him, 
which  from  him  will  receive  the  germ  of  a  new  life. 
In  that  city,  the  centre  of  idolatry,  heathenism,  and 
tyrrany,  and  of  all  the  corruption  that  is  in  the  world 
through  lust,  he  will  have  been  the  first  of  a  line  of 
rulers  which  is  never  to  cease,  and  which,  while  the 
crown  of  temporal  empire  falls  away  from  the  Capitol, 
will  substitute  for  it  the  spiritual  rule  of  purity,  gentle- 
ness, and  charity  over  the  whole  earth.* 

But  whence  had  this  despised  foreigner  received  the 
double  knowledge  of  God,  and  of  the  soul  so  miserably 
lost — as  we  have  seen — to  this  brilliant  Roman  civili- 
zation ?  He  has  received  it  from  the  lips  of  Christ 
Himself  who  had  given  him  authority  to  form  this 
"^Allies. 


THE  PALACE  OF  PUD  ENS.  87 

new  society,  and  in  the  strength  of  this  word  alone,  he 
had  come  to  Rome  to  inaugurate  in  the  seat  of  the 
world's  corrupt  empire,  the  everlasting  kingdom  of 
charity. 

But  still  true  to  the  political  and  utilitarian  bias,  so 
characteristic  of  the  Roman  mind,  it  was  the  complete 
solution,  afforded  by  Christianity,  of  tht  great  problem 
they  had  been  discussing,  that  chiefly  struck  the 
guests  of  Pudens.  If  indeed  this  new  system  were 
really  the  work  of  a  divine  author;  and  had  for  sanc- 
tion the  authoritative  injunction  of  the  Supreme  Lord 
and  Arbiter  of  all;  then  was  there  found  at  last,  a 
means  of  retrieving  the  tottering  fortunes  of  Rome, 
and  of  re-establishing  its  universal  empire  upon  a 
truly  eternal  basis.  In  the  programme  of  the  fisher- 
man, they  discerned  all  that  consummate  statesman- 
ship ani  the  experience  of  centuries  had  suggested  to 
their  ancestors;  a  solemn  worship  based  upon  august 
and  sacrificial  rites,  calculated  to  impress  the  public 
with  awe  and  veneration  for  the  Divine  Majesty;  im- 
pressive sanctions,  arising  from  the  vivid  hopes  and 
fears  of  future  retribution;  expiations  for  sin;  benisons 
and  sanctifying  ceremonies;  a  cycle  of  festivals  to  body 
forth,  and  as  it  were  dramatize  the  wonderful  teachings 
of  the  new  state;  to  fill  the  memory  with  great  exam- 
ples, and  to  fire  the  living  to  emulation  of  the  illustri- 
ous departed.  Above  all,  they  were  not  a  little  flat- 
tered in  remarking  such  a  singular  coincidence  between 
the  hierarchical  constitution  of  the  Messiah's  empire 
and  their  own;  various  orders  and  gradations  of  min- 
istry under  the  jurisdiction  of  one  Supreme  Pontiff, 
endowed  with  sovereign  authority,  to  bind  and  loose, 
to  regulate,  define,  enforce,  and  ordain  anew,  tallying 
Allies, 


88  57:  PETER  IN  ROME, 

in  so  many  various  instances  with  what  had  been  de- 
vised by  the  political  wisdom  of  their  great  ancestors. 
But  all  this  referred  merely  to  the  skeleton;  how  de- 
termine whether  this  new  religion  had  any  pretensions 
to  truth,  to  a  vivifying,  interior  spirit,  to  an  authority 
really  from  Heaven,  to  a  power  to  sanctify  and  liberate 
from  sin,  better  than  their  old  system?  The  great 
defect  of  the  religion  devised  by  their  forefathers 
was,  that  it  was  an  imposture — a  grand,  admirable 
scheme,  but  founded  on  falsehood.  How  did  they 
know,  how  could  they  be  certain,  that  this  system  of 
the  fisherman  was  based  on  truth  ?  Was  a  Jew  less 
likely  to  be  an  impostor  than  Pampilius  ?  Where  were 
his  vouchers  for  the  divinity  of  the  Nazarene  ?  Where 
his  own  credentials  that  he  had  been  sent  ? 

PUDKNS  I.E)ADS  ST.  PKTKR  TO  THK  CHAMBER 
OF  DEATH. 

It  was  not  the  hope  which  emanates  from  trust 
in  man,  it  was  not  the  scepticism  of  affection — incred- 
ulous to  the  silence  and  the  decay  by  which  death  pro- 
claims his  jurisdiction,  and  sets  his  seal  upon  the 
cherished  object  that  was  generated  in  the  soul  of 
Pudens,  and  at  length  found  utterance  upon  his  lips  as 
he  interrupted  the  apostle  with  a  profession  of  faith  in 
Christ's  divinity,  and  in  his  own  power,  as  vice-gerent 
of  the  Redeemer  who  had  taken  pity  on  the  widowed 
mother  of  Naim,  to  restore  his  son  to  his  embrace. 

Followed  by  the  guests,  the  afflicted  Pudens  led  the 
apostle  to  where  the  nuptials  of  death  were  celebrated. 
The  boisterous  revel  paused  for  a  moment,  as  the 
patrician  moved  along  the  brilliant  galleries  and 
through  the  halls  of  the  vast  palace,  spread  with  ban- 
queting and  crowded  with  feasting  multitudes.     But 


THE  CHAMBER  OF  DEATH,  89 

again  it  rushed  on  and  resounded  like  a  tempest,  after 
tlie  lull  of  an  instant  or  like  a  torrent  which  becomes 
more  ungovernable  by  being  checked. 

Purchased  sympathy,  and  lamentation  without  grief 
were  at  their  orgies  in  the  sanctuary  of  death  itself. 
The  senator  waved  his  hand — the  giddy  dance  stood 
still — the  pantomime  looked  grave — the  timbrel,  the 
madrigal,  and  the  flutes  were  hushed — and  every  eye 
escorted  the  broken-hearted  father,  as  he  led  the 
apostle  towards  the  dead  body  of  his  child. 

The  boy  was  habited  as  on  a  holiday,  and  reclined 
on  a  glittering  couch,  as  if  reposing  after  the  toils  of 
sport.  A  stole  of  flowers  fell  from  his  shoulders  over 
his  white  and  beauteous  costume;  the  lily  and  the  rose 
were  twined  with  the  clustering  ringlets  of  his  hair; 
but  their  bloom  only  served  to  deepen  the  shadows 
that  overcast  that  countenance,  so  lately  beaming  with 
candid  joy.  Every  lineament  was  now  steeped  in  the 
noisome  mildew  of  the  grave.  That  form  which  used 
to  move  in  all  the  martial  sports  and  exercises  of 
Roman  boyhood,  with  agility  and  grace  that  enchanted 
every  beholder,  was  now  motionless  as  a  Parian  statue. 
That  eye  so  full  of  Roman  majesty  and  ambition,  was 
shrouded  in  darkest  night.  The  lips  of  his  son,  al- 
ready livid  and  conglutinated  with  the  slime  of  dissolu- 
tion, were  unable  to  utter  even  one  syllable  of  comfort 
to  the  afflicted  father,  as  he  bent  over  the  wreck  of  al 
his  most  cherished  hopes. 

Grace  chastens  and  elevates  without  extirpating  the 
affections.  While  at  a  distance,  absorbe<l  in  lofty 
speculation,  and  under  the  excitement  of  the  apostles 
inspired  words,  the  patrician  had  felt  a  rIow  of  hope 
around  his  heart;  but  when  he  gazed  upon  the  figure 


90  THE   CHAMBER  OF  DEA  TH. 

of  his  child,  lapsing  with  awful  rapidity  to  decay,  he 
wrung  his  hands,  and  shook  his  aged  head  in  token  of 
despair,  as  he  turned  his  streaming  eyes  upon  the 
apostle. 

By  this  time  the  noble  spouse  of  Pudens,  Claudia,  not 
less  celebrated  for  her  beauty  than  her  birth  as  the 
daughter  of  Caractacus,  distracted  with  woe  and  fol- 
lowed by  the  chief  kindred  and  friends  of  their  illus- 
trious lineage,  arrived,  with  the  lovely  Pudentiana  and 
Praxede,  at  the  scene  of  grief.  The  heart-broken 
mother  could  not  endure  the  sight,  and  swooned  in  the 
arms  of  her  attendants;  while  the  fair  children  com- 
menced a  piteous  wailing; — they  called  upon  Timoth- 
eous  to  awake;  and  took  him  by  the  marble  hand  with 
fondness,  and  after  again  and  again  conjuring  him  by 
name,  as  if  he  still  lived,  they  drew  the  apostle  by  the 
garments  towards  the  bier  praying  him  to  awake  their 
brother,  and  St.  Peter  looking  on  them,  burst  into 
tears.* 

The  guests,  who  had  now  assembled  from  all  quar- 
ters and  beheld  the  distressing  scene,  began  to  murmur 
and  cast  looks  of  menace  at  the  apostle,  whose  emo- 
tion passed  for  the  trepidation  of  an  unveiled  impostor. 
The  malediction  was  brewing  upon  many  a  tongue; 
many  an  arm  was  already  nerved  to  seize  the  hypocrite 
who  dared  to  trifle  with  the  sorrows  of  a  noble  family, 
when  St.  Peter  serenely  elevated  his  eyes  and  hands 
in  prayer  to  Heaven. 

Whoever  in  youth  has  been  a  pilgrim  through  the 
glowing  South  shall  hardly  be  lonesome  in  old  age. 
Memorv^  shall  have  many  a  verdant  spot  wherein  to 
retire  during  the  pilgrimage  over  life's  desert  in  after 
yearfe — associates  from  whom  neither  despotism,  nor 
"^Milev. 


THE   CHAMBER  OF  DEATH.  91 

age,  nor  death  can  separate  it — reveries  celestial  and 
refreshing  as  the  vision  which  came  upon  fugitive 
Israel  as  he  slept.  But  amongst  his  reminiscences, 
none  shall  be  more  brilliant,  or  like  the  coming  of  the 
Deity  to  judgment,  than  that  of  sunrise  among  the 
Apennines;  where  morning  does  not  steal  through  the 
imperceptible  degrees  of  twilight,  but,  after  a  moment's 
hesitation  on  the  mountain-tops,  bursts  into  full  splen- 
dor over  the  entire  landscape,  which  lives  and  laughs 
in  vivifying  brightness,  suddenly.  And  thus  it  was 
that  life,  balmy  and  refulgent,  dawned  *'like  the 
blushing  morn,"  over  the  dead  body  of  the  youth. 
He  breathed,  he  panted  with  exuberant  sensation;  he 
bounded  from  the  bier,  like  an  angel  from  his  rest; 
and  his  voice,  fragrant  and  musical  as  nature's  matin 
song,  broke  out. 

It  was  long  before  rapture  and  astonishment,  dis- 
tracted with  ecstacy  about  the  youth,  could  spare  one 
thought  to  him  who  had  restored  him  to  animation. 
The  parents  embraced  their  child,  and  pressed  him 
alternately  to  their  bosoms,  as  if  be'jide  themselves 
with  joy.  They  bathed  his  warm  cheeks,  by  turns 
with  gushing  tears,  and  the  most  passionate  caresses, 
then  gazed  upon  him,  as  if  incredulous  with  delight, 
and  again  pressed  him  anew  with  redoubled  emotioD  to 
their  hearts.  His  sisters  folded  their  Parian  arms 
around  him,  and  looking  up  with  tears  that  reflected 
the  radiant  affection  of  their  brother's  smile,  upbraided 
him  with  their  sorrow  and  made  him  promise  not  to 
die  again. 

The  revellers  who  had  lingered  behind  now  rushed 
with  tumultuous  precipitation  to  the  scene  of  wonder. 
The  dance  fell  into  anarchy,  the  lute  dropped  from  the 


92  THE  CHAMBER  OF  BE  A  TH, 

musician's  hand,  and  the  goblet  from  the  lip  of  the 
voluptuary — the  gamester  abandoned  the  dice,  the 
gourmand  the  banquet — the  player  who  had  hastened 
back  to  the  audience,  vociferous  for  his  return,  when 
he  made  his  exit,  stood  aghast  upon  the  stage  in  the 
presence  of  the  spectral  solitude — and  the  drunkard, 
whom  the  din  of  mirth  had  lulled  to  sleep,  was  star- 
tled into  consciousness  by  the  abrupt  silence  that 
reigned  in  the  banquet  hall. 

Joy,  wonder,  bewilderment,  ecstacy,  assumed  a 
thousand  attitudes,  and  the  murmur  of  those  who  be- 
held the  miracle  was  varied  as  the  sound  of  the  harp 
when  its  chords  are  swept  by  the  winds  of  heaven. 
Even  callous  scepticism  was  confounded  to  see  how- 
long  the  mirage  lasted.  The  aged  lifted  up  their 
withered  hands  in  impotent  amaze,  stern  manhood 
seized  his  beard,  and  setting  himself  firmly  on  the 
earth,  peered  steadfastly  from  under  knitted  brows,  as 
if  determined  that  neither  credulity  nor  legerdemain 
should  fool  his  intellect.  The  bacchanal,  with  the  ivy 
tangled  in  his  dishevelled  hair,  and  reeling  from  his 
cups,  drew  a  hand  across  his  unsteady  vision,  the 
whirl  of  intoxication  stopped,  undulated  for  an  in- 
stant, and  looking  upon  him  living,  who  had  been 
dead,  he  grew  sober  from  astonishment. 

IMPERIAL  ROME. 

PUDKNS   SHOWS  ST.    PETER    THE    ROME  HE    IS   TO  CON- 
VERT. 

Next  morning,  about  the  third  hour,  the  patrician 
conducted  St.  Peter  to  the  Capitol. 

The  foundations  of  this  fortress,  so  renowned  as  the 
shrine   and  citadel  of  Roman  power,  were   made  by 


PUDENS  SHOWING  ROME  TO  ST.  PETER.      93 

Tarquinius  Pribcus  in  fulfillment  of  a  vow  made  dur- 
ing the  Sabine  War,  upon  a  scale  of  surpassing  gran- 
deur. The  very  gilding  of  it,  according  to  Plutarch, 
cost  12,000  talents,  or  $9,188,250. 

Innumerable  were  the  objects  of  w^onder  that  had 
accosted  the  strangers  that  morning  at  almost  every 
step  of  their  progress  from  the  palace  of  the  senator, 
in  the  street  of  Patricians,  across  the  fashionable  quar- 
ter of  the  Suburra;  but  all  the  rest  seemed  insignifi- 
cant when  they  entered  the  Roman  forum.  To  Rome 
what  Rome  was  to  the  world,  all  the  glories  of  the 
illustrious  living  and  of  the  illustrious  dead  seemed 
congregated  there.  Public  buildings  of  the  most  su- 
perb description  enclosed  it  upon  three  sides;  on 
the  fourth  the  temples  of  Saturn  (the  treasury),  of 
Fortune,  and  of  Jove  the  Thunderer,  standing  on  the 
clivus  or  declivity  of  the  capitol  seemed  to  preside  over 
the  deliberations  of  the  Roman  people,  and  to  hail  the 
conqueror  as  he  approached  through  a  succession  of 
triumphal  arches  along  the  via  sacra\  the  temples, 
towers,  brazen  portals,  and  embattled  walls  of  the  cap- 
itol formed  the  background  of  the  picture. 

At  the  feet  of  Peter  lay  the  immense  city;  through 
ii  move  more  than  five  millions  of  inhabitants.  Noth- 
ing elsewhere  to  equal  the  number  and  magnificence 
of  its  palaces  and  temples.  Rome  had  stood  on  seven 
hills,  hut  thanks  to  successive  enlargements  it  crowned 
under  the  Caesars  a  dozen  of  these  heights.  It  was 
divided  into  fourteen  wards,  and  contained  48,719 
houses.  This  number  included  2,000  palaces  of  in- 
credible splendor.  Arched  to  a  certain  height,  and 
built  of  stone  that  resisted  fire,  they  all  stood  apart 
from  one    another,  without  partition  walls;  each  of 


94  IMPERIAL  ROME, 

them  resembled  somewhat  a  little  city,  as  in  each 
might  be  seen  forums  or  spacious  courts,  circuses,  por- 
ticoes, baths,  gardens,  and  rich  libraries. 

To  satisfy  the  effeminacy  and  to  nourish  the  indo" 
lence  of  its  voluptuous  inhabitants,  Rome  had  900 
bath  establishments,  327  capacious  granaries,  and  45 
palaces  of  debauchery.  Within  its  vast  circuit  rose 
470  temples  in  which  the  pagan  gods  were  worshipped. 
Rome  also  possessed  5  naumachies,  or  lakes  for  re- 
presenting naval  battles;  statues  and  obelisks  almost 
without  number;  36  triumphal  arches  formed  of  ex- 
quisite marble  and  ornamented  with  rare  specimens  of 
sculpture;  24  horses  of  gilt  bronze  and  94  of  ivory; 
several  amphitheatres  of  which  one  alone  could  afford 
sitting  accommodation  to  87,000  spectators,  and  a 
Grand  Circus,  which  could  admit  according  to  those 
who  make  the  lowest  computation  150,000  persons, 
and  according  to  those  who  make  the  highest  483,000. 
There  was  not  one  hospital  theie.  Far  above  ever}-- 
thing  else  in  magnificence  rose  the  imperial  palace, 
built  by  Nero,  less  remarkable  for  the  gold  and  jewels 
lavished  on  its  ornamentation  than  for  the  gardens, 
ponds,  and  woods  with  which  it  was  surrounded. 
Twenty  four  roads  covered  with  large  flagstones  and 
bordered  with  superb  mausoleums,  went  out  from  the 
twenty-four  gates  of  Rome,  leading  from  the  capital  of 
the  world  to  its  provinces. 

Let  us  now  descend  from  the  Capitol,  and  penetrate 
into  the  interior  of  the  houses.  Before  coming  to  a 
master  we  meet  with  a  large  number  of  slaves,  who 
during  the  day  are  at  the  beck  of  his  every  caprice, 
and  during  the  night  are  shut  up  in  dark  and  loath- 
some prisons  called  ergastula.     The  multitude  of  peo- 


PUD  ENS  SHOWING  ROME  TO  ST.  PETER,      95 

pie  who  swarm  in  the  streets,  sleep  on  the  tiles,  or 
wherever  else  they  can.  During  the  day  they  visit  the 
amphitheatre  or  places  of  debauchery.  There  are 
only  two  wants;  food  and  pleasure.  As  for  the  rich 
man,  he  occupies  apartments,  whose  walls  are  painted 
in  fresco,  the  floors  adorned  with  costly  mosaic,  and 
the  ceilings  inlaid  with  gold.  He  is  surrounded 
with  all  that  we  should  expect  to  find  in  a  magnificent 
palace.  History,  and  the  monuments  still  remaining, 
tell  us  that  gold,  silver,  ivory,  jewels,  and  precious 
woods  adorned  the  furniture. 

Cicero,  the  modest  Cicero,  had  a  table  of  citron- 
wood  that  cost  200,000  sesterces,  that  is  to  say  about 
$5,000.  A  house  that  he  purchased  from  Crassus 
cost  him  350,000  sesterces  or  $90,000. 

Julius  Caesar  had  two  tables  that  cost  him  $50,0 d 
of  our  money.     This  same  Caesar  used  to  appear  at 
the  public  games  in  a  golden  chair. 

Crassus  owned  2,000,000,000  sesterces  between  land 
and  money,  without  counting  furniture  or  slaves. 

Seneca,  the  Philosopher,  had  in  landed  property 
3,000,000,000  sesteices. 

Another  Roman,  named  Caius  Cecilius  Claudius 
Isodorus  declared  in  his  will,  that  though  he  had  lost 
much  during  the  Civil  War,  yet  he  left  to  his  heirs 
4,116  slaves.  3,600  yoke  of  oxen,  257.000  other  animals 
with  600,000.000  of  sesterces. 

How  did  they  employ  their  enormous  riches,  and 
their  power  over  almost  the  whole  known  world  ? 
With  regard  to  God,  in  sacrilege;  with  regard  to 
themselves,  in  immorality;  with  regard  to  others,  in 
the  most  barbarous  oppression.  These  degraded 
Marcus  Aurielcou^  ap.  Gaume, 


96  IMPERIAL  ROME, 

beings  turned  all  creatures  into  so  many  instruments 
of  crime. 

Their  religion  was  infamously  gross.  Their  temples 
were  places  of  debauchery;  their  feasts,  schools  of 
corruption;  their  gods,  the  basest  passions. 

Of  their  mysterious  and  their  secret  initiations  we 
will  not  speak,  the  reason  is  plain. 

Satan  received  there  under  a  thousand  forms  the 
adoration  of  mortals.  Imperial  Rome  was  the  centre 
of  his  empire,  was  his  temple. 

Such  was  Pagan  Rome.  Such  were  its  inhabitants. 
Voluptuous  people  are  always  cruel  people.  Debauch- 
ery is  the  daughter  and  the  mother  of  selfishness;  and 
selfishness  is  hatred  of  others.  Pagan  Rome  justifies 
this  principle,  for  that  cruelty  which  is  the  perfection 
of  hatred  reigned  everywhere. 

At  this  period  the  city  had  attained  to  a  degree  of 
magnificence  and  vastness  of  extent,  almost  incredible. 

"It  would  seem,"  say  Aristides,  "that  all  nations 
have  congregated  in  this  one  city  for  the  sake  of  neigh- 
bourhood, and  it  accommodates  them  all;  for  as  one 
•earth  sustains,  one  Rome  has  lodging  for  all." 

It  was  the  boast  of  Augustus  that  "having  found 
Rome  of  brick,  he  left  it  of  marble."  He  built  the  tem- 
ple and  forum  of  Mars,  the  Avenger,  having  stately 
porticoes  on  three  sides,  adorned  with  statues  of  his 
regal  ancestry,  beginning  with  his  Eneas;  the  temple 
of  Jupiier  Tonans  on  the  brow  of  the  Capitol;  that  of 
Apollo  on  the  Palatine,  with  its  libraries  and  hall  for 
poetical  recitation;  the  theatre  of  Marcellus;  the  por- 
ticoes of  lyivia  and  Octavia,  among  the  most  splendid 
ornaments  of  the  city,  and  sources  of  great  enjoyment, 
as  affording  opportunity  for  exercise  and  recreation, 


f 


PC/DENS  SHOUTING  ROME  TO  ST.  PETER.      97 

either  on  foot  or  in  carriage,  in  every  inclemency  of 
the  seasons.  The  senate  often  met  in  them,  during 
the  intense  heats  of  summer,  and  they  were  adorned 
with  statuary,  altars,  paintings,  and  bazaars,  in  which 
the  most  splendid  wares,  jewelry,  pictures,  books,  and 
all  objects  of  virtu  were  exposed  to  sale.  His  minis- 
ters and  courtiers  followed  the  emperor's  example* 
The  Esquiline,  formerly  the  most  filthy  and  abandoned 
region,  became  the  most  elegant  and  fashionable 
through  the  taste  and  example  of  Maecenas.  Agrippa 
built  the  Pantheon;  but  his  chief  object  was  to  adorn 
Rome  with  fountains.  All  who  courted  favor,  at  a 
time  when  servility  was  in  its  first  fervor,  helped  to 
realize  the  project  of  the  prime  minister,  "so  to  deck 
out  the  queen  of  nations,  as  to  inspire  her  subjects 
with  admiration,  her  enemies  with  awe.*' 

Cato,  the  Censor,  spent  upwards  of  i.ooo  talents 
($1,250,000)  in  the  cleansing  of  the  subterranean  chan- 
nels of  the  town,  even  of  his  day.  The  principal  clo- 
cse,  or  sewers,  first  constructed  by  Tarquinius  Priscus, 
were  so  high  and  broad  that  a  wagon  loaded  with  hay 
might  pass  through  them. 

But  the  palm  has  been  justly  given  to  the  aque- 
ducts among  the  works  of  Roman  grandeur.  Some  of 
them  brought  to  Rome  the  treasures  of  the  most  cool 
and  sequestered  fountains  from  the  distance  of  sixty 
miles,  through  rocks  and  mountain  chains,  and  over 
rapid  riveis  and  valleys,  on  an  interminable  series,  as 
it  were,  of  triumphal  arches,  rising  in  some  places  to 
more  than  a  hundred  feet  high.  "If  any  one,"  says 
Pliny,  "will  diligently  estimate  the  abundance  of  wa- 
ter supplied  to  the  public  baths,  fountains,  fish-ponds, 
artificial  lakes  for  galley-fights,  to  pleasure-gardens, 
Marcus  Aurelius^  ap.  Cdmmr, 


98  IMPERIAL  ROME. 

and  to  almost  every  private  house  in  Rome,  and  will 
then  consider  the  difficulties  that  were  to  be  surmounted 
and  the  distance  from  which  these  streams  are  brought, 
he  will  confess  that  nothing  so  wonderful  as  these 
aqueducts  is  to  be  found  in  the  whole  world. ' '  Strabo 
says  they  supplied  every  house,  and  that  their  waste 
waters  swept  like  torrents  through  the  clocae.  Some 
writers  say  there  were  twenty,  but  the  principal  ones 
named  are  only  fourteen  in  number.  The  Virgo,  the 
Martia,  the  Alsiatina,  were  for  ponds,  fountains,  and 
artificial  lakes;  the  Julia  and  Annio  Novus,  the  Crebra 
and  Herculanus  Rivus  were  the  greatest,  the  Claudian 
excepted,  which  conveyed  from  the  heart  of  the  Appe- 
nines  a  torrent  that  looked  like  a  mountain  cataract, 
in  falling  from  the  highest  point  of  the  Aventine  into 
a  deep  glen. 

They  supplied  in  the  first  place  the  fountains,  of 
which  Agrippa  alone  constructed  seven  hundred  with 
lake-like  basins;  besides,  one  hundred  and  five  that 
cast  up  jets  of  water  in  a  variety  of  fashions.  Accord- 
ing to  Dio,  when  the  mob  once  became  clamorous  for 
wine,  Augustus  told  them  that,  * 'Agrippa  had  taken 
care  that  they  should  not  want  for  drink." 

The  thermae,  or  baths,  located  in  every  quarter  of 
the  city,  were  also  replenished  from  the  aqueducts. 
In  these  temples  of  health  and  enjoyment,  the  lofty 
apartments  were  encrusted  with  costly  marbles  and  em- 
bellished with  statuary  (the  Laocoon  was  one  of  them), 
and  mosaics  that  imitate  the  art  of  the  pencil  in  the 
elegance  of  design  and  variety  of  colors.  Into  the  ca- 
pacious basins  (where  an  army  at  once  could  swim, 
disport,  and  enjoy  the  water),  and  which  were  com- 
posed of  porphyry  overlaid  with  silver,  their  poured 


PUD  ENS  SHOWING  ROME  TO  ST.  PETER.      99 

perpetual  streams  of  the  hot,  tepid,  or  cool  element, 
through  so  many  wide  mouths  of  bright  and  massive 
silver.  Thus  the  meanest  citizen  could  every  day  lux- 
uriate amid  scenes  of  magnificence  which  no  oriental 
monarch  could  command.  Some  of  these  baths  had 
sixteen  hundred  bathing  places — one  had  two  thou- 
sand two  hundred  like  that  described  above — and 
attached  to  each  therma  were  porticoes,  groves,  and 
halls  of  recreation,  xysti  or  terraces  for  gymnastic  ex- 
ercises, libraries  and  academies  where  philosophers 
held  lectures  or  disputations. 

The  Campus  Martins,  which,  from  being  a  royal  de- 
mesne or  farm  of  the  Tarquins,  extending  from  the 
foot  of  the  Capitol  to  the  Tiber,  had  been  converted 
under  the  Republic  into  a  place  of  martial  exercise  for 
the  Roman  youth,  was  adorned  with  superb  monu- 
ments, arches  of  triumph,  hippodromes,  fountains, 
temples,  theatres,  umbrageous  walks,  sylvan  scenery, 
interspersed  with  shrines  and  statuary,  and  marble 
bowers;  but  its  greatest  work  of  art  was  the  stupen- 
dous mausoleum  or  tomb  of  Augustus,  where  the  ashes 
of  so  many  of  the  Julian  family  were  deposittd  in 
golden  urns. 

"O,  city  of  the  new  Jerusalem!"  exclaimed  St.  Peter, 
"O,  capital  of  the  King  of  kings,  what  must  be  thy 
glory,  since  so  magnificent  is  the  capital  of  this  wretched 
earth!" 

Perceiving  the  interest  with  which  the  apostle  lis" 
tened  to  everything  connected  with  their  city,  the 
guests  of  the  preceding  night  (most  of  whom  had 
joined  the  patrician  as  he  crossed  the  forum),  now  col- 
lected in  a  group  around  himself  and  St.  Peter  where 
they  were  seated  on  the  summit  of  the  tower,  and 
Marcus  Aurelius,  ap.  Gaum€, 


100  IMPERIAL   ROME. 

took  great  pains  to  instruct  the  venerable  stranger  in 
the  most  striking  details  of  the  wonders  before  them, 
extending  on  every  side  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach. 
"Yes,"  says  Petus,  *'the  Mediterranean  and  the 
lesser  seas  would  seem  to  have  been  disposed  for  the 
express  purpose  of  facilitating  the  conveyance  to  our 
granaries  and  marts  of  the  products  of  the  vast  and 
teeming  countries  which  extend  around  their  shores, 
especially  of  Africa,  Sicily,  and  Egypt;  for  whatever 
is  precious  and  exquisite,  the  delicacies  of  every  sea- 
son, the  wonders  of  every  ait  and  climate,  are  destined 
by  consent  of  all,  as  tributes  due  to  Rome.  Candid 
strangers  have  observed  that  it  is  no  longer  necessary  to 
travel  round  the  world  to  see  whatever  is  most  costly 
and  curious  in  it,  for  that  they  may  be  all  seen  at  once 
in  the  marts  and  bazaars  of  Rome.  The  Scythian 
hunter  roams  the  forests  of  the  North  that  we  may  be 
wrapped  in  ermine;  it  is  for  us  the  savage  tribes  along 
the  Danube  and  the  Baltic,  dive  for  amber;  the  richest 
carpets  and  embroidery  are  destined  for  our  banquet 
hails;  the  looms  and  the  plastic  hands  of  Asia,  skilled 
in  every  luxurious  craft,  seem  to  labour  but  for  us. 
The  spices  and  the  perfumes  of  Araby  are  exhausted 
by  our  delicacy,  and  whole  argosies,  which  sail  peri- 
odically from  the  Red  Sea  for  the  distant  India, 
su{)ply  the  demand  for  pearls,  silks,  and  diamonds. 
It  is  well  that  you  have  with  your  own  eyes  beheld  the 
furniture  and  decorations  of  our  palaces,  for  how 
could  I  describe  them?  Lucullus  used  to  feed  five  and 
twenty  thousand  guests  at  once,  and  even  at  that  pe- 
riod, since  which  the  city  has  increased  much,  Rome 
numbered  twenty  thousand  rich  as  he.  The  sounds 
of  mirth  and  revelry  are  never  silent  within  our  palaces, 


PUD  ENS  SHOWING  ROME  TO  ST,  PETER.      101 

crowned  by  fortune  with  every  gift  that  can  satiate 
the  desires,  we  hold  it  to  be  our  fate  and  our  duty  to 
enjoy  them." 

But  the  great  delight  of  the  patricians  was  to  enter- 
tain St.  Peter  by  instituting  a  variety  of  quaint  com- 
parisons and  contrasts  between  Imperial  Rome  as  he 
then  beheld  it  and  the  Rome  of  the  older  ages.  This 
was  a  national  propensity.  They  dwell  with  pleasure 
on  the  insignificance  of  their  country's  origin,  and 
preserved  the  memorials  of  it  in  all  their  primitive  sim- 
plicity, and  with  religious  care.  The  ruminal  fig  tree 
under  which  the  twins  were  found  was  planted  in  the 
commitia;  the  hut  of  Romulus  was  preserved  in  the 
Capitol;  the  wooden  bridge  by  which  Ancus  Martius 
joined  the  Janiculum  to  the  city  was  never  suffered 
to  be  replaced;  and  in  the  repairs  which  it  required 
from  age  to  age,  it  was  prohibited  to  use  either  iron 
or  copper,  nothing  but  wood,  and  the  care  of  this  relic 
was  considered  so  sacred  and  important,  that  those  in- 
trusted with  it  were  deemed  most  honored. 

With  proud  complacency  the  Romans  now  listen 
while  St.  Peter  points  out  to  them  how  accurately  the 
all-conquering  force  of  their  country,  and  its  unprece- 
dented grandeur  had  been  revealed  to  kings  and 
prophets,  in  the  heart  of  Asia,  before  its  name  or  exist- 
ence had  been  heard  of,  beyond  the  neighboring  septs 
of  Latium.  So  strongly  characterized  were  the  em- 
blems of  the  2nd  and  7th  chapters  of  Daniel,  so  graphic 
the  descriptions  of  the  prophetic  visions,  that,  to  their 
minds,  they  scarcely  needed  an  interpreter.  What 
other  than  that  very  empire,  whose  irresistible  might 
and  obstinate  perseverance  they  had  been  describing  to 
the  apostle,  could  be  referred  to  in  that  kingdom  of 


102  ST.  PETER'S  ADDRESS. 

■*'tron,**  represented  by  the  limbs  and  feet  of  that  ap- 
parition which  had  so  terrified  King  Nebuchodonosor 
in  his  sleep;  for,  *'as  iron  breaketh  and  subdueth  all 
things,"  had  not  all  states  and  kingdoms  been  crushed 
and  subdued  by  Rome?  Still  more  to  their  fancy,  if  it 
•were  possible,  was  that  emblem  in  the  yth  chapter,  of  a 
^ild  beast,  terrible  and  wonderful,  and  exceeding 
strong,  with  great  iron  teeth,  eating  and  breaking  in 
pieces,  and  treading  down  the  beasts  typical  of  the 
other  three  empires,  and  trampling  them  with  its  feet. 
In  this  it  was  impossible  not  to  recognize  an  energetic 
epitome  of  the  conquering  career  of  Rome.  Their  in- 
timate acquaintance  with  history  enabled  them,  at  a 
glance,  to  recognize  in  the  other  emblems,  the  Babylo- 
nian empire,  personified  in  Nebuchodonosor  (ch.  2,  v. 
38,  and  ch.  7,  v.  4);  the  empire  of  the  Medes  and  Per- 
sians, in  the  two  arms  and  breasts  of  silver  (ch.  2,  v. 
.32-39);  and  in  the  bear  (ch.  7,  v.  5),  a  striking  type 
of  their  austerity  of  life,  and  thirst  for  blood. 

While  with  respect  to  Alexander  the  Great,  and  his 
empire,  partitioned  by  Antipater,  Seleucus,  Ptolemy, 
and  Antigonus,  the  predictions  of  Daniel  bore  to  their 
minds  so  much  the  air,  not  of  prophecies,  but  of  his- 
tories written  posterior  to  the  events,  that  no  shadow 
of  doubt  remained  as  to  the  divine  inspiration  of  the 
entire  series  of  visions,  when  it  was  ascertained  that 
they  had  been  written  several  hundred  years  before 
Alexander's  birth. 

This  point  however,  agreed  upon,  and  the  undoubted 
inspiration  of  the  prophet  having  been  tested  by  expe- 
rience, by  their  beholding  the  first  half  of  the  predic- 
tion literally  fulfilled  before  their  eyes,  St.  Peter  went 
on  to  interpret  that  portion  of  the  prophecy  which  still 


ST,  PETER'S  ADDRESS,  103 

remained  to  be  accomplished,  a  peroration,  the  very 
reverse  of  flattering  to  Roman  arrogance. 

*'Thou,  O  King,"  said  Daniel,  '*sawest  and  behold 
a  great  image.  This  great  image,  whose  brightness 
was  excellent  stood  before  thee,  and  the  form  thereof 
was  terrible.  The  head  of  this  image  was  of  fine 
gold" — the  empire  of  Babylon  or  of  the  Chaldees,  as 
the  prophet  himself  explains  it — **its  breast  and  its 
arms  of  silver — "  the  empire  of  the  Medes  and  Persians, 
who  took  Babylon  under  Cyrus,  a  Persian  by  the 
father's  side,  by  the  mother's  side  a  Mede — "its  body 
and  thighs  of  brass" — the  Macedonian  or  Greek  em- 
pire— "its  legs  of  iron" — republican  or  conquering 
Rome — "its  feet" — the  declining  empire — "part  of 
iron  and  part  of  clay." 

"Hitherto,"  pursued  St.  Peter,  "we  have  been  veri- 
fying prophecy  by  our  own  knowledge  and  experience 
of  past  events;  it  remains  for  us  now  to  take  the  sequel 
of  this  same  prophecy  as  our  guide  into  that  future, 
which,  without  Divine  revelation,  is  impervious  to 
human  foresight.  Mark  well  the  destiny  that  awaits 
this  'iron  empire,'  now  actually  bestriding  the  world, 
'terrible,  and  wonderful,  and  exceeding  strong,'  'greater 
than  all  the  preceding  empires,  devouring  the  whole 
earth,  and  trampling  it  down,  and  breaking  it  in 
pieces.  * 

•Thus  thou  sawest,  O  King,*  says  the  prophet,  *till 
a  stone  was  cut  without  hands,  from  a  mountain,  and 
it  smote  the  image  upon  its  feet  that  were  iron  and 
clay,  and  broke  them  to  pieces.  Then  was  the  iron 
the  clay,  the  brass,  the  silver,  and  the  gold — all  the 
power,  art,  renown,  and  opulence  amassed  by  succes- 
sive empires,  broken  to  pieces   together,  and  become 


104  57:  PETER'S  ADDRESS. 

like  the  dust  of  the  summer  threshing  floor. '  Behold 
how  perishable  the  grandeur  which  you  call  'eternal!' 
'Baths,  palaces,  amphitheatres,  arches,  pillars,  tro- 
phies, temples,  and  all  the  rest — and  the  'wind  carried 
them  away,  so  that  no  place  was  found  for  them!' 
that  is,  the  very  places  where  they  stood  shall  become 
a  problem  to  the  antiquarian — the  very  fact  of  their 
existence  a  doubt. 

*'Yes,  Fortune  as  you  call  her,  will  turn  back  upon 
her  sttps,  upon  these  scenes  which  now  excite  our  ad- 
miration; not  only  undoing,  but  reversing,  as  if  in  ca- 
pricious mockery,  every  thing  that  had  been  achieved 
and  erected  upon  them  under  her  own  auspices.  The 
gorgeous  tissue,  which  according  to  your  poets  was 
woven  from  exploits  and  triumphs  under  kings,  con- 
suls, emperors — the  memorabilia  of  a  thousand  years — 
shall  be  rent  to  pieces  and  flung  to  the  deriding  winds. 

"As  the  earth  was  before,  so  shall  it  be." 

Desolate  as  when  Evander  crossed  it  with  Eneas, 
shall  be  again,  that  theatre  of  all  that  is  now  most  re- 
nowned, mighty  and  magnificent;  the  Roman  Forum 
shall  ho:  again,  a  pasture  field;  the  Palatine  a  heap  of 
ruins. 

''Matted  and    mass'd  together;" 
like  the  vision  of  a  dream,  a  mirage  ot  the   desert   the 
empire  of  the  Caesars   shall  vanish;   the   home   of  so 
many  nations,  shall  become  their  grave;  the  seven  hills 
a  'marble  wilderness.' 

"And  yet  is  Rome  destined  to  be  an  eternal  city," 
imperishable  as  the  earth  itself,  over  which  its  sceptre 
shall  still  be  wielded;  for,  mark  the  conclusion  of  the 
prophecy: — 'And  the  stone,' — cut  without  hands  from 
a  mountain — the  church  built  on  Peter,  'the  stone  that 


ST.  PETER'S  ADDRESS,  105 

smote  the  image' — the  pagan  empire  of  Rome, — 'be- 
came a  great   mountain  and  filled   the   entire   earth.' 
That  is,  according  to  the  prophet's  own  interpretation, 
the  empire,  or  Church  of  Christ,  which  hath   been    in 
progress  of  erection,  during  the  entire  cycle  of   these 
empires,  and  which  is  to  continue   advancing   to  per- 
fection to  that  cycle's  close,  shall  arise  upon    the  ruins 
of  this  pagan  empire,  'never  to   be   destroyed/      Not 
like  the  human  empires  that  we  have  beheld  'passing 
from  nation  to  nation,'  from  Chaldees  to  the  Medes  and 
Persians,  from  them  to  the  Greeks,  from  the  Greeks  to 
yourselves;     'This  kingdom  shall  not  be   delivered   to 
another  people';  even  'the  gates  of  hell  shall  not   pre- 
vail against  it.'     True  it  is,   the  powers  of   darkness 
shall  rouse  up  all  the  terrible  forces  of   this  'iron'  em- 
pire of  yours,  and  all  the  passions  of  corrupt  humanity 
against  it;  and  formidable  as  have  been  the  trials  and 
resistance  through  which  you  have  described  the  city 
and  empire  of  Romulus  struggling  for  existence,    for 
territory,  for  supremacy,  they  are  but  trivial  compared 
with  the  opposition  this  new  Roman  empire  shall  have 
to  encounter.     'But  why  have  the  nations  raged,    and 
the  people  devised  vain  things.' — for  its  destruction? 
'The  kings  of   the  earth  shall  rise  up.  the  princes  con. 
spire  together  against  the  Lord,  and  against  his  Christ; 
but  He  that  dwelleth  in  heaven  shall  laugh  at  them;' 
'and  the  rock  shall   crush  to  pieces,   and   consume  all 
those  hostile  kingdoms.     'For  judgment   shall  sit  in 
heaven'    concluded   the   prophet — ch.   7.  v.  9-28. — in- 
terpreting the  other  vision  of  the  four  great   empires, 
that  the  last  effort  to  reinstate   the   tottering   sway  of 
paganism  may  be  frustrated  and,  'that  its  empire  may 
be  broken  in  pieces  and  perisheth  even  unto  the  end; 


106  ST.  PETER'S  ADDRESS. 

that  the  kingdom  and  power,  and  greatness  of  the 
kingdom  under  the  whole  heaven,  may  be  given  to  the 
saints  of  the  Most  High  whose  kingdom'  (thus  to  be 
established,)  is  an  everlasting  kingdom,  and,  fin  it) 
'all  kings  shall  serve  Him  and  obey  Him.' 

"Then  shall  be  realized  that  sublime  ideal  of  per- 
fection described,  I  will  say  prophesied,  by  your  own 
Marcus  Tullius;  *nor  shall,  be  one  law  at  Rome,  an- 
other law  at  Athens,'  one  to-day,  a  different  one  to- 
morrow; but  a  law,  one,  sempiternal,  and  immutable, 
shall  unite  and  hold  together  in  communion  all  nations 
throughout  all  ages,  under  one  common  ruler  and 
emperor  of  all — that  God,  by  whom  was  devised, 
drawn  up,  enacted,  this  law,  in  swerving  from  which 
we  swerve  from  our  own  well  being,  and  offer  violence 
to  human  nature.  Nay,  more,  it  is  not  by  force  but 
by  persuasion  this  new  empire  shall  be  extended  and 
established ;  it  shall  be  held  in  subordination  by  charity 
and  faith,  and  not  by  coercion.  In  it  'the  first  shall  be 
last;'  'he  that  humbleth  himself  shall  be  exalted;'  'ser- 
vant of  servants'  shall  be  its  proudest  title;  poverty,  in 
that  empire  shall  be  accounted  a  beatitude;  riches 
dreaded  as  a  calamity.  Chastity  and  penitential  aus- 
terities, and  the  works  of  mercy,  will  be  cultivated  with 
greater  enthusiasm  than  is  at  present  felt  for  the  'lust 
of  the  flesh,  the  lust  of  the  eyes,  and  the  pride  of  life.' 
By  submitting  without  a  murmur  to  every  insult  and 
outrageous  cruelty,  its  people  shall  triumph,  vanquish- 
ing even  all-conquering  Rome,  and  leading  captive  the 
Quirites,  the  conscript-fathers,  the  knights,  the  legions, 
with  the  cross  upon  their  banners,  and  upon  the  dia- 
dem of  Caesar  himself,  to  pay  homage  to  the  Crucified 
on  this  Capitol." 

Miley. 


RE  PL  Y  OF  CA  UIS  C A  SSI  US.  107 

"Never,  never,  never!"  cried  Caius  Cassius.  whose 
scorn  could  restrain  itself  no  longer;  "when  you 
talked  of  the  destruction  of  this  empire,  I  listened  with 
indifference.  Why  should  hallucinations  such  as 
these  excite  more  than  a  smile  of  pity?  But  in  these 
mad  antitheses  about  supplanting  pride  by  humility, 
libertinism  by  chastity;  of  substituting  the  love  of 
poverty  for  the  love  of  riches,  the  cross  for  the  eagle; 
the  outrage  upon  common  sense  becomes  insufferable. 
Have  you  any  notion,  any  shadowy  conception,  even, 
of  what  Rome,  of  what  human  nature  is,  of  what  you 
are  yourself?"  Then  launching  forth,  he  showed  how 
paganism  was  so  interwoven  and  identified  with  the 
then  existing  order  of  things,  that  it  could  not  be  in- 
terfered with  without  disjointing  the  whole  frame  of 
the  empire,  and  overturning  all  existing  ideas  and  in 
stitutions;  and  that  the  establishment  of  Christianity 
demanded,  not  only  a  revolution  of  the  Roman  gov- 
ernment, but  a  subversion  of  society,  and  what  was 
still  more  absurd,  a  complete  metamorphosis  of  human 
nature. 

"Bound  up  with  the  most  ennobling  recollections, 
consecrated  by  patriotism,  eulogized  by  eloquence, 
sanctioned  by  philosophy,  embalmed  by  poetry,  and 
rendered  irresistible  by  all  that  is  most  fascinating  in 
the  arts;  identified  with  the  games  of  the  Circus  and 
of  the  arena,  loved  by  our  people  to  distraction,  inter- 
dicting no  vice,  but  on  the  contrary,  sanctifying  every 
sensual  pleasure.  What  insanity,"  he  pursued,  **to 
think  that  the  world  enervated  beyond  measure,  and 
abandoned  to  every  gratification,  will  of  a  sudden  dis- 
like to  live  voluptuously,  and  grow  enamoured  of  auster- 
ities; and  that,  too,  at  the  dictation  of  a  recent,  an  in- 


108  RE  PL  Y  OF  CAUIS  CASSIUS 

comprehensible  and  ignominious  creed,  based  upon  the 
dogma,  that  the  author  of  the  universe,  the  Supreme, 
the  only  God,  was  put  to  death  as  a  malefactor  by  a 
Roman  magistrate!  You  say  that  reason  itself  con- 
victs idolatry  of  error  and  impiety — agreed.  But  per- 
suade the  artificer,  the  augur,  the  flamen,  the  state 
functionary,  as  much  as  you  please  that  'an  idol  is 
nothing,'  still  will  the  idol  be  worshipped  for  its  gold. 
Diana,  Phoebus,  Jupiter,  Optimus,  Maximus  himself, 
may  be  the  mere  creatures  of  the  imagination,  but  be- 
ing wedded  to  the  system  by  the  love  of  Mammon  and 
of  place,  the  more  rotten  and  false  it  is  proved  to  be, 
the  more  furiously  will  it  be  defended;  and  those  who 
live  and  multiply,  and  fatten  with  their  progenies  on 
the  imposture,  will  be  fierce  and  merciless  persecutors 
of  all  who  dare  to  meddle  with  it.  Alas!  old  man,  be- 
take thyself  to  physic,  that  may  purge  away  this  mania 
that  practices  so  sadly  on  thy  intellect;  and,  what  is 
worse,  luns  thee  in  thy  decrepitude  on  scoffs  and  chas- 
tisement."* 

They  collected  around  the  apostle,  recapitulated  and 
corroborated  by  additional  arguments  all  that  the  pa- 
trician had  said.  One  illustrated  by  incidents  the  pro- 
found and  universal  depravity  of  the  times;  another 
dwelt  with  emphasis  upon  the  fury  with  which  society, 
gangrtrned  to  the  very  marrow,  would  resist  the  iron 
and  the  knife,  and  maintained  that  even  couid  it  be  in- 
duced to  submit,  so  mortal  and  deep  seated  was  the 
malady,  that  it  must  inevitably  sink  under  the  attempt 
to  cure. 

Again,   they  dilate  on  the  blindness  of  the  public 
mind,  its  bigoted  attachment  to  error,  and   portrayed 
with  a  bold  hand,  the  apparent  absurdity  and  repulsive 
*  Adapted  from  Gibbon, 


PUD  ENS  INTERFERES,  109 

features  of   the   system   by    which    he    proposed    to 
displace    what    was    so    desperately     cherished.     To 
exhibit  the  hopelessness  of  attempting   to  reform   the 
reigning  superstition,  or  the  reigning  scepticism;  they 
enumerated  the   superior   qualifications    for   such   an 
enterprise  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  sages,  who   had 
signally  failed  in  that  attempt,  and  dwelt  upon  the 
difficulty  of  making  men  hate  to  be  libertines,  and 
love  to  be  saints.     He  was  reminded  that  it  was  an 
age  when  the  lights  of  philosophy  were  universally 
diffused;  and  therefore  that  the  juncture  was   perhaps 
the  most  unpropitious  that  could  have  been   selected, 
for  the  appearance  of  an   illiterate  Jewish  fisherman, 
as  the  enlightener  of  nations  arrived  at  the  highest 
pitch  of  intellectual  refinement.      To  think  of  eluding 
the  vigilance  of  the  Magistrate,  and  of  carrying  on 
his    operations    in    darkness,    was   perfectly   insane, 
detection  and  chastisement  were  inevitably  linked  with 
the  attempt.     Roman  vigilance  darted  its  glance  even 
into   the    darkest    recesses    of    private    life — Roman 
vengeance  was  gifted  with  omnipotence  and  ubiquity; 
and  a  spiritual   conspiracy,    which   calculated  for  its 
triumphs  upon  the   ruins  of   the  empire,    would   be 
branded  with  public  odium,  and  exterminated  without 
remorse    or    consideration."      When    they   came    to 
describe  the  tortures  which  were  reserved  for  those 
who  were  doomed  to  be  made  examples  of  by  Caesar 
and  the  senate,   Pudens  and   his  son  could  restrain 
themselves  no  longer,  but,  bursting  into  tears  besought 
the  apostle  on  berfded  knees,  not  to  rob  them  of  their 
greatest  benefactor,  by  rushing  blindly,   and   to  no 
purpose,  upon  a  fate  tremendous  as  it  was  inevitable. 
Then  St.  Peter,   lifting  up  his  hands  and  his  voice 


110  ST.  PETER'S  APOLOGY. 

together,  said,  "Romans,  I  am  not  beside  myself;  the 
arguments  by  which  you  would  persuade  me  to 
despair,  I  regard  as  the  pledges  of  my  success." 
ST.  pktkr's  apology  for  himsklf. 
'*I  was  born  on  the  confines  of  a  tranquil  lake, 
embosomed  in  the  sequestered  hills  of  Galilee.  I 
grew  up  upon  its  halcyon  waters.  I  loved  them  from 
my  boyhood,  made  acquaintance  with  every  shadow 
that  slept  in  the  deep  bosom  of  Genezareth,  and  held 
converse  with  every  murmur  uttered  by  the  waves  in 
rippling,  day  and  night  along  its  shores.  Even,  for 
the  fair  face  of  heaven  which  smiled  above  it,  I 
imbibed  an  enthusiastic  passion,  as  I  gazed  upon 
it,  from  my  bark,  while  tending  my  nets  by 
night;  and  in  its  thousand  stars,  trembling  in  the 
fathomless  serenity  of  the  deep,  I  seemed  to  catch 
glimpses  of  angel  heralds,  advancing  from  eternity 
before  the  'long  expected.'  My  nets,  my  little  bark, 
were  unto  me  as  friends — I  loved  my  home,  and  even 
when  I  had  been  called,  and  that  vague,  but  still 
vivid  anticipation,  lit  up  my  uncouth  fancy,  I  did  not 
hesitate  to  expostulate  with  him  whom  I  believed  to 
be  the  Messiah,  saying,  'Behold,  we  have  left  all^ 
what,  therefore,  are  we  to  get  in  recompense?'  'The 
least  likely,  perhaps,  of  all  men,  to  become  an 
adventurer,  is  an  humble,  contented  fisherman,  on  a 
midland  lake;  as  for  my  part,  I  clung  to  the  scenes 
and  associations  of  my  youthhood  with  tenacity.  On 
every  opportunity  I  returned  to  my  fishing;  and  even 
after  all  the  wonders  I  had  witnessed,  all  the  mysteries 
in  which  I  had  been  initiated,  after  all  the  bright  and 
exciting  prospects  held  out  to  me  by  a  Master,  whose 
power  to  perform  what  he  promised  I  believed  to  be 


57:  PETER'S  APOLOGY,  111 

omnipotent;  still,  did  he  find  me.  after  his  resurrec- 
tion, where  first  he  had  called  me—  engaged  with  my 
bark  and  my  nets  upon  my  native  and  beloved  lake. 

"Neither  by  nature  nor  by  education  have  I  been 
gifted  with  high  conceptions,  with  quickness  of  appre- 
hension or  with  foresight.  O  my  heavenly  Master, 
how  often  didst  thou  rebuke  us,  how  much  oftener  did 
we  deserve  to  be  reprehended,  for  being  'dull  and  stu- 
pid, and  tardy  of  belief  !'  The  national  bias — our 
Jewish  nature — seemed  to  have  rendered  us  incapable 
of  spiritual  views.  The  occurrence  of  events,  of 
which  we  had  been  repeatedly  apprised,  in  terms  the 
most  explicit  and  encouraging  stunned  us  with  con- 
sternation, and  scattered  us  like  a  timid  flock,  when  in 
the  midst  of  them,  the  shepherd  is  struck  with  light- 
ning. You  imagine  that  I  am  courageous,  daring  even 
to  indiscretion.  I  was  a  coward.  When  my  most 
kind  and  noble  benefactor  was  seized  by  ruffian  hands, 
I  fled;  when  charged  with  being  one  of  his  adherents. 
even  by  a  poor  damsel,  I  denied  my  Lord  and  Master; 
and,  when  urged,  I  cursed  and  swore  that  I  had  never 
seen  His  face.'* 

Here  the  apostle  hid  his  troubled  countenance  in 
his  hands;  but  he  could  not  hide  the  big  tears  which 
trickled  down  his  furrowed  cheeks  and  beard. 

**  While  my  Master  wasjnoving  through  all  the  land. 
'doing  good,'  perfoiming  the  most  stupendous  mira- 
cles, and  was  revered  as  the  Messiah  by  myriads  of  my 
compatriots,  and  that  I  had  been  nominated  by  Him 
the  viceroy  of  His  eternal  kingdom  it  was  still  with 
delight  I  relapsed  into  my  original  obscurity.  In  the 
effulgence  of  His  countenance.  I  was  blind— stupid 
while    listening    to    uncreated    Wisdom — a    recreant 


112  ST.  PETER'S  APOLOGY. 

through  a  slight  temptation,  to  Him  whom  I  knew  to 
be  omnipotent  to  protect  me.  But,  after  Yi\^  death — a 
death  of  the  most  opprobrious  character — I  took  my 
stand  in  the  very  heart  of  Jerusalem,  and,  while  the 
city  was  crowded  with  the  multitude  who  had  assem- 
bled for  the  festival,  I  rebuked  the  whole  house  of 
Israel  with  Deicide!  When  seized  and  brought  before 
the  Sanhedrim,  I  refused,  at  the  command  and  menace 
of  the  princes  who  had  put  Jesus  to  death,  to  desist 
from  proclaiming  his  Divinity.  They  scourged  me, 
and  I  was  filled  with  joy.  Prisons,  insults  and  the 
bitterest  persecution,  since  then,  have  been  my  lot. 
And  not  in  me  alone,  but  in  thousands  of  every  age, 
and  rank,  and  sex,  and  temperament,  has  a  similar 
transformation  taken  place.  We,  who  were  illiterate 
can  speak  all  languages;  we,  whose  desires  were  so 
grovelling,  disdain  the  greatest  gifts  of  fortune. 
Twelve  poor  men,  of  mean  extraction  and  contracted 
views,  have  portioned  out  the  world  between  them, 
and  the  most  unworthy  of  them  all,  Simon  Bar-Jona  of 
Bethsaida,  is  on  the  Capitol,  preparing  to  bring  the 
empire  of  Caesar  under  the  yoke  of  Christ. 

"Had  the  career  of  my  beloved  Master  terminated 
with  his  cruel  and  disgraceful  death,  must  not  our  am- 
bition have  been  inevitably  extinguished,  instead  of 
having  been  thus  inflamed?  For  it  is  not  by  discom- 
fiture and  in  the  damp  airs  of  the  tomb,  that  fervid 
enthusiasm  aud  fearless  ambition  are  likely  to  be 
enkindled.  Therefore  have  I  said  that  the  seeming 
madness  of  my  enterprise  is  the  proof  of  my  inspira- 
tion. The  meanness  of  my  origin,  the  manner  of  my 
life,  my  deficiencies,  my  ignoble  presence,  emphati- 
cally attest,  that  it  is  not  by  impulse  or  nature,  or 


57:  PETER'S  APOLOGY.  113 

project  of  human  wisdom,  that  I  am  here;  but  purely 
and  exclusively  through  the  behest  and  impulse  of 
Heaven.  No,  had  not  my  ears  heard,  my  eyes  beheld, 
my  hands  touched  and  tested  the  truth  and  rt- ality  of  my 
blessed  Master's  resurrection,  I  should  at  this  hour, 
have  been  busied  as  of  old,  with  my  nets  and  ray  bark; 
and  their  humble  interests,  upon  my  native  lake,  tffectu- 
ally  and  forever  cured  of  the  folly  which  had  seduced 
me  from  it  for  a  season,  and  resolved  within  myself  to 
live  and  be  gathered  to  my  fathers  in  unpretending 
obscurity  and  peace.  If  the  Spirit  of  truth  and  power 
had  not  descended  upon  me  and  the  others,  we  should 
have  remained  as  stupid,  as  slow  to  believe,  as  timor- 
ous as  before. 

**Dream  not  that  it  is  by  any  furtive  expectation  of 
honors,  or  affluence,  or  terrestrial  aggrandisement, 
that  I  am  urged  upon  this  enterprise.  I  know  my  tate. 
My  Divine  Master — who  chooseth  the  "weak  things 
of  this  world,'  and  'the  things  that  are  not'  for  his 
grande.st  ends,  that  no  mistake  may  exist  as  to  the  vir- 
tue by  which  I  hey  are  effected  He,  as  if  to  save  me 
from  being  elated  with  the  stupendous  dignity  to  which 
he  had  exalted  me,  distinctly  predicted,  in  the  presence 
of  my  companions,  that  I  shall  terminate  my  labors  in 
His  service,  by  a  violent  and  ignominious  death.  For 
when  he  had  given  me  charge  of  the  fold,  He  said. 
'Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  thee,  when  thou  wast  youngs 
thou  girded.st  thyself,  and  walkedst  whither  thou 
wouldst;  but  when  thou  shalt  be  old,  thou  shah  stretch 
forth  thy  hands,  and  another  shall  gird  thee,  and  carry 
thee  whither  thou  wouldst  not.* — *This  spake  he 
signifying  by  what  death  he  should  glorify  God'.** 

St.  Peter  returned  with  Pudens  to  the  palace,  a  part 


114  CHURCH  OF  ST.  PUDENTIANA. 

of  wliich  thfe  senator  graciously  assigned  to  the  apostle 
as  a  church,  which  exists  and  is  used    to    this  day, 
under  the  title  of  St.  Pudentiana,  and  is  esteemed  the 
•oldest   church    in   the   world.     The   writer   of   these 
lines  had   the   happiness   of   celebrating   Mass   in   it 
several  times;  the  altar  at  which  he  celebrated  con- 
taining within,  a  part  ctf  the  very  altar  at  which  St. 
Peter  celebrated.      The  antiquarians  of  Rome  concur 
in   the   statement  that    the    present    church    of    St. 
Pudentiana  is  a  remnant  of  the  old  palace  of  Pudens. 
Among  the  conversions  which  St.   Peter  wrought 
during    his   first  visit,    we    note    especially    Pudens 
himself,  his  wife  Claudia,  their  two  sons  Novatus  and 
Timothy,    and  their   illustrious   daughters,    Praxedes 
and  Pudentiana,   both  of  whom   were  canonized,  St. 
Praxedes  being    commemorated    on    July    21st,    St. 
Pudentiana  May   19th. 

Meanwhile  the  apostle  availed  himself  of  his  resi- 
dence in  Rome  to  write  his  first  letter.  It  is  addressed 
to  the  Faithful  of  Pontus,  Galatia,  Asia  and  Cappa- 
docia.  Though  particularly  intended  for  the  converted 
Jews  scattered  through  these  provinces  it  speaks  also 
to  the  Gentiles  who  have  embraced  tlie  Faith.  We 
find  in  it  a  dignity  and  a  vigor  worthy  of  the  Prince 
of  the  Apostles 

The  fisherman  of  Galilee  had  labored  for  about 
seven  years  to  extend  the  reign  of  the  Cross  in  the 
very  capital  of  the  Caesars  when  in  the  year  51  of 
Jesus  Christ,  the  eleventh  of  the  Emperor  Claudius,  an 
edict  obliged  all  Jews  to  leave  Rome.  St.  Peter  set 
out  therefore  for  the  East,  and  went  to  celebrate  the 
Feast  of  the  Pasch  in  Jerusalem.  The  same  year  he 
presided  at  the  Council  which   was  held  in  this   city 


ST,   PETER,  115 

and  which  decided  that  Gentiles  converted  to  the 
I^aith  should  not  be  obliged  to  submit  to  Mosaic 
observances,  as  some  Jews  that  had  become  Christians 
wished.  The  apostles  express  their  decision,  to  which 
the  whole  Church  yields,  with  these  memorable 
words,  //  had  appeared  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost  and  to  us 
which  show  the  supreme  power  and  infallibility  of  the 
Apostolic  College.  After  the  Council  at  Jerusalem, 
St.  Peter  continued  with  the  same  ardor  to  rule  and  to 
teach. 

St.  Peter  consecrated  St,  Appolinaris,  Bishop  of 
Ravenna;  St.  Martial,  Bishop  of  the  Gauls:  Rufus, 
Bishop  of  Capua;  and  the  best  known  of  all,  St.  Mark 
the  Evangelist. 

About  five  years  after  his  departure  from  Rome,  he 
returned  never  more  to  leave  it.  The  arrival  of  St. 
Peter  in  the  capital  of  the  world  served  religion 
much  there;  but  the  devil,  enraged  to  see  his  empire 
declining  day  by  day,  tried  every  means  that  cunning 
and  hatred  could  suggest  to  stay  the  progress  of  the 
Gospel.  Nero,  his  worthy  minister,  kindled  a  violent 
persecution,  which  was  to  procure  for  St.  Peter  the 
crown  of  martyrdom. 

Lactantius  says  th  it  Peui  predicted  many  future 
events  shortly  before  his  death,  and  amongst  the  re.st 
the  approaching  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  that  the 
number  of  conversions  in  his  last  visit  was  immense. 
St.  Peter  had  been  apprised  by  our  Lord  when 
appointing  him  supreme  i^astor  that  he  was  to  he 
crucified,  it  was  afterwards  revealed  to  him  at  what 
time  he  was  to  suffer;  and  St.  Alhanasius  tells  us  that 
it  was  revealed  before-hand  to  the  two  glorious  apostles 
that  they  were  to  die  in   Rome.     As  St.   Peter  was 


116  DOMINE  QUO  VADIS? 

departing  from  the  city  at  the  entreaty  of  his  people, 
who  had  found  means  to  set  his  prison  open,  as  it  was 
opened  before  by  an  angel,  he  i^  said  to  have  met  his 
Divine  Master  just  outside  the  Capenian  gate  coming 
along  the  Via  Appia  as  if  bearing  his  cross.  *  'Whither, 
Lord,  art  Thou  going?"  exclaimed  the  apostle. 
^^Domine  quo  vadis'^  ''I  am  going  to  Rome,"  our 
Lord  replied,  "to  be  again  crucified."  Vado  Romam, 
iterum  crucifigi''  Then  St.  Peter  understood  that  the 
hour  was  come,  when  as  Supreme  vicar,  and  locum 
tenens  of  the  Prince  of  pastors.  He  was  to  be  assimi- 
lated to  Him  whom  he  represented,  even  in  the  manner 
of  his  death.  We  are  informed  by  Eusebius,  that  St. 
Peter  was  crucified  with  his  head  towards  the  earth. 

NERO   SETS   FIRE   TO   ROME. 

"Mehercule  !  Is  it  Julius  Ahala  of  the  band  Au- 
gusta once  more  upon  the  Capitol  ?  Yes,  it  is  his 
mailed  hand  I  grasp — but  by  Mavors,  if  Numa  or  King 
Brennus  had  met  me  in  my  rounds  to-night,  or  yon 
grim  effigy  of  Caius  Marius  had  bounded  from  its 
pedestal  with  all  its  Cimbrian  trophies,  it  could  not 
more  astound  me.  Why,  Julius,  it  is  half  a  lustrum 
since  we  numbered  thee  among  the  dead,  and  a  ceno- 
taph erected  by  thy  comrades  of  the  * 'guard"  excites 
the  horror  of  many  a  fat  citizen  in  his  evening  stroll 
along  the  Nomentan  way;  for  the  painted  marble  ex- 
hibits thee  as  being  roasted  in  i-ome  outlandish  place, 
by  Druids,  at  an  altar — Methinks  they  call  it  Mona  in 
the  epitaph." 

Julius. — *'Mona  is  the  name,  Ventidius.  It  was 
there  we  drove  the  British  cannibals  upon  the  sacri- 
ficial fires  they  had  lighted  up  for  the  Roman  soldiers. 
It  is  an  island  on  the  furiherest  coast  of    Britain,    sep- 


NERO  SETS  FIRE  TO  ROME,  117 

arated  from  the  mountain  country  of  Caractacus  by  a 
narrow  frith;  and  as  it  formed  a  rallying  point  for  all 
the  malcontents  and  rebels  of  the  border  districts,  the 
general  resolved  upon  reducing  it;  so  where  the  strait 
is  narrowest,  he  passed  over  the  infantry  on  rafts;  as 
to  the  horse,  they  threaded  their  way  across  the  shal- 
lows, or  swam  through  the  deeper  channels.  Before 
us,  the  rugged  shores  were  crowded  with  a  multitude 
in  arms.  Every  crag  was  manned,  and  females  re- 
sembling furies,  rushed  with  dishevelled  hair  and  flam- 
ing torches  from  clan  to  clan;  while,  around  the  burn- 
ing piles  intended  to  torture  and  consume  their  ene- 
mies, the  Druids  lifted  up  their  hands  to  draw  down 
curses  and  confusion  on  our  heads.  At  the  preter- 
natural horrors  of  the  scene,  the  men  were  thunder- 
struck; and  as  if  paral3zed  by  some  incantation,  stood 
gazing  at  the  spectacle,  as  if  insensible  to  the  darts 
and  stones  that  showered  on  them  from  the  cliffs. 
But  roused  at  length  by  the  cheers  and  exhortations  of 
the  officers,  and  siiniulaiing  each  other  not  to  be 
daunted  by  a  mob  of  inhuman  savages,  the  eagles 
moved  forward, — the  opposing  multitudes  are  slaugh- 
tered, or  driven  on  the  immense  fires  which  hemmed 
in  their  entire  rear. — Prithee  tell  me  Ventidius  about 
the  burning  of  Rome,  by  Nero,  where  did  it  begin  ? 

Ve7itidius.—''\xi  the  far  end  of  the  Great  Circus, 
contiguous  to  the  Palatine  and  Caelian  Mounts.  The 
fire  broke  out  with  fury  that  proved  indomitable  from 
the  first;  for  it  was  pampered  into  instantaneous  vio- 
lence by  the  combustible  materials  of  the  taverns  and 
stores  abounding  in  that  quarter.  Along  the  Circus, 
from  goal  to  goal,  it  sweeps  with  the  rapidity  of  the 
wind;  from  the  lower  ground,  the  wide-wasting  clc- 
Tacitas. 


118  NERO  SETS  FIRE  TO  ROME. 

ment  mounts  the  heights,  and  again  rushes  down  over 
the  interjacent  valleys  with   a  swiftness  not  to  be  re- 
tarded by  any  human  efforts.     The   character   of   the 
old  town — a  labyrinth  of  torturous  and  narrow  streets, 
encumbered   with  enormous   piles    of    building   that 
swarmed  with  inhabitants  to  the  very  tiles     contribut- 
ed to  accelerate  the  catastrophe,  and  augment  its  hor- 
rors.    Add  to  this,  the  terror-shrieks   of  women — the 
touching  spectacle  of  languid  age  and  feeble  childhood, 
making  abortive  efforts  to  escape — some,  deaf   to   the 
cries  of  nature  and  of  duty,  think  only  to  save    them- 
selves; others  freely  risking  their   lives  to   save   their 
friends  or  kindred,  of  the  darling  objects  of  their  affec- 
tions.    Midst  the  ruin  of  tumbling  edifices,  that  come 
down  upon  them  like  avalanches  of  fire,  the  fugitives 
are  crushed,  with  the  sick  and  helpless  they  are  drag- 
ging away  on  litters,  or  on  their  shoulders;   some   lin- 
ger in  distraction  about  their  flaming  dwellings,  others 
take  to  flight,  and  all  contribute  to  heighten  the  con- 
fusion and  preclude  the  possibility  of  escape;  or,    if  a 
few,  more  fortunate  than  the  rest,  succeed  in  extricat- 
ing themselves  from  the  surrounding  flames,  they  find 
to  their  consternation  that  parts  where  they  expected 
shelter  are  involved  in  the  common  ruin.     At  last,  be- 
wildered as  to  where  or  from  whence  to  fly,  they  choke 
up  the  streets  in  helpless  masses,    or   cast   themselves 
on  the  earth  in  despair;  while  some  who  actually  made 
good  their  retreat,   on  contemplating   the   misery    to 
which  they  are  so  suddenly  reduced,   rush   back   with 
the  same  eagerness  upon  destruction  that  others   seek 
to  shun  it.     As  to   endeavors  to  check  the  conflagra- 
tion, there  were  none  whatever;  for   desperate   gangs, 
denouncing  every  such  attempt,  roamed  through   the 


NERO.  SETS  FIRE  TO  ROME.  119 

burning  town  in  all  directions,  and  tossed  flaming 
brands  to  spread  the  fire,  vociferating  that  they  knew 
upon  what  authority  they  had  acted." 

The  parties,  who  had  welcomed  Nero  with  un- 
bounded acclamation  wh«n  returning  from  the  murder 
of  his  mother,  and  were  ready  to  deify  him  for  atroci- 
ties of  which  others  were  the  victims,  fell  into  differ- 
ent sentiments  when  the  effects  of  his  destructive  ca- 
price came  home  to  themselves.  The  tyrant  began  to 
be  alarmed  at  the  public  indignation.  Nothing  was 
left  undone  to  stifle  the  complaints  and  discontent  of 
the  sufferers,  every  resource  of  state  jugglery  was  tried. 
Nero  would  fain  throw  the  blame  upon  the  gods,  or- 
dered sacrifices  to  appease  their  ire,  had  the  Sybilline 
books  consulted,  and,  by  their  direction,  supplications 
are  made  to  Vulcan,  Ceres,  and  Proserpine,  beside  a 
lectisternium,  in  which  the  Roman  matrons  endeav- 
oured, first  upon  the  Capitoi,  then  on  the  sea-shore  at 
Ostia,  to  turn  aside  the  wrath  of  Juno  from  the  city. 
But  all  to  no  purpose.  Neither  treasures  squandered 
among  the  multitude,  Hor  the  improvement  as  to  the 
regularity,  superior  elegance,  and  security  of  the  new 
city,  not  even  the  wiles  of  superstition,  could  beguile 
or  blind  the  public  resentment,  or  acquit  the  matricide 
of  having  ordered  the  firing  of  the  city.  To  divert  the 
odium  which  could  not  be  suppressed,  he  resolved  to 
supply  it  with  fictitious  criminals,  upon  which  it  might 
exhaust  its  fury. 

"With  this  view,*'  continues  the  Pagan  historian, 
Tacitus,  "Nero  inflicted  the  most  exquisite  tortures 
upon  a  herd  of  wretches,  who,  under  the  vulgar  appel- 
lation of  Christians,  had  already  become  objects  of  ex- 
ecration by  reason  of  their  flagitious  practices.     They 


120  NERO  SETS  FIRE  TO  ROME. 

derived  their  name  and  origin  from  Christ,  who,  in  the 
reign  of  Tiberius,  had  suffered  death  by  the  sentence 
of  the  procurator,  Pontius  Pilate.  Checked  for  the 
moment  by  this  vigorous  step,  the  baleful  superstition 
burst  forth  again,  spreading  itself  not  only  over  Judea, 
the  cradle  of  the  calamity,  but  through  Rome,  also, 
the  common  cesspool  into  which  are  discharged  the 
villainies  of  the  whole  world,  and  where  every  form  of 
superstition,  no  matter  how  profligate,  can  celebrate 
its  mysteries  with  impunity.  -The  first  proceeding  then 
in  the  device  was  to  seize  upon  some  miscreants  who 
confessed  themselves  to  be  accomplices  of  the  Christians. 
On  this  information  an  immense  multitude  {multitudo 
ingens)  were  convicted,  not  indeed  of  setting  fire  to 
the  city,  but  of  being  the  enemies  of  the  human  race. 
They  were  put  to  the  most  cruel  deaths;  their  tor- 
ments were  embittered  by  derision,  and  turned  into 
sources  of  sport  and  merriment  for  Nero  and  the  mob. 
They  covered  their  bodies  with  the  skins  of  wild 
beasts,  that  they  might  be  worried  and  torn  to  pieces 
by  dogs;  they  nailed  them  on  crosses,  made  bonfires  of 
their  bodies,  having  smeared  them  all  over  with  a  mix- 
ture of  lard  and  pitch,  or  fastened  them  in  such  a  man- 
ner on  pedestals,  and  in  conspicuous  places,  that  the 
flames  issuing  from  them  served  to  light  up  the  impe- 
rial gardens  and  to  shed  lustre  on  the  games  and  pub- 
lic entertainments  which  were  blended  with  the  perse- 
cution of  the  Christians.  Nero  had  ordered  the  im- 
perial pleasure  grounds  of  the  Vatican  to  be  thrown 
open  for  this  exhibition,  which  was  set  off  with  char- 
iot races  and  other  sports  of  the  Circus  on  the  grandest 
scale.  These  games  were  also  due  to  the  munficence 
of  the  emperor,  who  appeared  himself  dressed  as  a 


NERO  SETS  FIRE  TO  ROME.  121 

charioteer,  by  turns  careering  upon  the  course  at  furi- 
ous speed,  or  mingling  with  the  mob  on  foot.  Loaded 
though  they  were  with  guilt,"  concludes  the  Pagan 
slanderer,  **and  deserving  to  be  made  examples  of 
still  this  revolting  mixture  of  levity  and  ferociousness, 
added  to  the  reflection  that  they  were  victimized 
through  the  savage  baseness  of  the  despot,  and  not 
through  solicitude  for  the  public  good,  contributed  to 
change  abhorrence  of  these  wretches  into  commisera- 
tion for  their  cruel  fate." 

"Like  the  hydra,  this  monstrous  superstition  drew 
energy  from  its  wounds — there  seems  to  be  a  strange 
fecundity  in  their  blood — they  are  multiplied  by  being 
massacred.  But  though  we  are  in  the  calends  of  July, 
the  ides  of  March  are  come  for  them." 

**Unriddle  this,  Ventidius.  What  mean  these  Chris- 
tian 'ides  of  March  ?'  " 

"Why,  Julius,  that  they  are  on  the  eve  of  being 
cut  off.  For  when  its  heads  are  severed  even  the 
hydra  dies." 

"More  enigmas!  Pray  .speak  the  dialects  of  camps^ 
good  sir.  I  am  no  diviner,  but,  as  you  are  aware,  a 
rough  spun  legioner.     What  hydra-heads  arc  these?" 

"The  chief  one,  a  Galilean.  He  is  to  be  crucified 
on  the  old  Acropolis,  over  the  Jews'  quarter,  beyood 
the  Tiber;  the  other  dies  by  ihe  sword,  for  he  claims 
the  privileges  of  a  Roman  citizen." 

"Of  what  mien  and  stature  is  this  latter?" 

"Pale  in  contour,  aquiline,  and  not  inelegant;  the  tra- 
cery of  thought,  with  a  beard,  ample,  flowing,  but  not 
so  snowy  as  his  few  remaining  hairs,  imparts  to  his 
appearance  a  venerable  bearing,  which  the  vigor  and 
agility  of  his  glance,  forbid  us  to  put  down  entirely  to 


122  ST.  PAUL. 

the  account  of  years.  Little  headed,  diminutive  in 
person,  he  looks  withal,  contemptible  until  he  speaks; 
but  then  he  seems  as  if  inspired  by  a  divinity.  I  have 
seen  more  graceful  gesture,  listened  to  periods  more 
symphonious,  to  diction  more  elaborate  than  his — not 
that  he  appears  undisciplined  hi  the  arts  of  oratory  or 
unimbued  with  letters — but  when  his  spirit  kindles  up, 
lip,  forehead,  eye,  become  refulgent — his  words  rever- 
berate upon  the  mind  like  lightning;  and,  as  if  actuated 
by  omnipotence,  'beat  down  every  altitude,  and  lead 
captive  every  understanding,  in  obedience  to  his 
Christ.'  " 

"It  must  be  Paul!" 

"Paul  is  his  name.  But  how  came  he  known  to 
thee?    He  is  a  Jew,  if  I  remember  well,  of  Tarsus." 

"It  is  even  so.  Yet,  nevertheless,  I  know  him  well, 
Ventidius,  nay  you  will  marvel  more  to  learn  that  I 
had  friendship  strict,  and  long  companionship  with 
this  same  Christian  captive;  and  sore  do  I  lament  his 
present  destiny." 

'*Mehercule,  but  'tis  passing  strange!  And  marvel- 
lous no  doubt,  have  been  the  casualties  that  made 
companions  of  an  enthusiast  Hebrew,  and  a  Praetorian 
officer.  Come,  Julius,  narrate  me  this  passage  of  your 
life.  It  piques  my  curiosity  to  learn  it;  and  I  see  by 
the  shadow  of  that  tall  wizard-stone  of  Egypt  that  one- 
third  of  the  watch  is  yet  to  run." 

THK  centurion's  STORY. 

"It  was  as  he  stood — his  chain-bound  arms  up- 
lifted— making  his  defense  before  the  king  Agrippa 
that  I  first  saw  this  man.  Shortly  after  Portius  Fes- 
tus  had  taken  posession  of  his  government,  Herod 
Agrippa,  and  Berenice  his  queen,  came  down  to  visit 


IHE  CENTURION'S  STORY.  123 

him  at  Caesarea;  and  the  governor  received  them  with 
great  pomp,  and  entertain».d  them  magnificently  for 
many  days.  Among  the  rest,  'twas  told  by  Festus  to 
the  king,  who  was  a  celebrated  orator  himself,  how 
there  was  a  man  of  amazing  eloquence  ihen  a  captive, 
whom  the  Jews  had  impeached  before  Felix,  of  many 
crimes,  but  who,  refusing  to  go  up  to  Jerusalem  to  be 
judged,  had,  as  a  Roman  citize4i  appealed  to  Caesar. 
'Then.'  said  Agrippa.  'I  should  like  lo  hear  this  man 
myself.'  'To  morrow,'  said  Festus,  '>our  majesty 
shall  hear  him  '  So,  next  day,  when  the  king  and 
queen,  conducted  by  the  proconsul,  with  his  tribunes 
and  the  leading  men  of  the  city,  had  come  into  the 
grand  audience-hall,  with  an  immense  concourse  of  all 
orders,  at  the  command  of  Festus,  Paul  w^as  led  forth 
m  chains;  and,  when  the  governor  had  stated  the 
charges  against  him  to  the  king,  Agrippa  said  to  Paul, 
'Thou  art  permitted  to  speak  for  thyself.' 

His  statement  was  very  singular.  Born  of  Jewish 
parents  in  Tarsus  of  Cilicia,  it  appears,  that  in  his 
boyhood,  he  had  been  placed  under  Gamaliel,  a  chief 
rabbi  in  Jerusalem,  at  whose  feet,  to  use  the  oriental 
phrase,  he  read  the  law;  and  from  youth,  according  to 
that  most  ligid  sect,  had  lived  a  Pharisee  Imbued 
with  the  prejudices  of  his  party,  young  Saul  became  a 
zealot,  and  incited  by  the  vehemence  of  his  tempera- 
ment, did  many  things  against  the  followers  of  Jesus 
of  Nazareth,  whose  name  he  deemed  it  a  sacred  and 
meritorious  duty  to  detest  and  persecute.  When  the 
Nazarenes  were  condemned,  he  charged  himself  to  see 
the  sentence  executed,  and  held  the  clothes  of  the 
executioners,  when  they  were  stoned  to  death       Not 


124  THE  CENTURION'S  STORY. 

satisfied  with  this,  he  pursued  them  with  vengeance 
even  into  foreign  cities. 

"  'Whereupon  when  I  was  going  to  Damascus  with 
authority  and  permission,  at  mid  day,  O  king,'  cried 
Paul,  'I  beheld,  as  we  were  journeying,  a  light  from 
heaven,  above  the  brightness  of  the  sun,  shining 
round  about  me,  and  them  that  were  in  company  with 
me;  and  when  we  were  all  fallen  down  on  the  ground, 
I  heard  a  voice  calling  to  me  in  the  Hebrew  tongue, 
'Saul,  Saul,  why  persecutest  thou,  me  ?  It  is  hard  for 
thee  to  kick  against  the  goad.'  And  I  said,  *Who 
art  thou,  Lord  ?'  And  he  answered,  'I  am  Jesus  whom 
thou  dost  persecute;  but  rise  up  and  stand  upon  thy 
feet,  for  to  this  end  have  I  appeared  to  thee,  that  I 
might  make  thee  an  apostle  and  a  witness  of  those 
things  which  thou  hast  seen,  and  of  those  things 
wherein  I  will  appear  to  thee — delivering  thee  from 
the  people  and  from  the  Gentiles,  to  whom  I  now  send 
thee  to  open  their  eyes,  that  they  may  be  converted 
from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan 
to  God;  that  they  may  receive  forgiveness  of  sins  and 
a  lot  among  the  saints.' 

"But  as  he  spoke,  or  rather  thundered  forth  the 
proofs  of  the  resurrection,  his  being  seemed  dilated  as 
if  by  the  presence  of  a  God.  He  looked,  not  like  a 
culprit,  but  an  emperor — an  emperor  of  the  heart  and 
intellect,  wielding  an  authority  by  which  the  haught- 
iest scorn  was  abashed,  the  most  stubborn  forced  to 
bow.  The  whole  basilica  was  subdued  in  this  poor 
captive's  presence,  and  bound  as  with  a  spell;  the  king 
was  half  converted;  and  even  Festus,  as  if  irritated  by, 
and  dreading  the  assaults  that  shook  his  iron  mind,, 
cried  out,  'Paul,  thou  art  beside  thyself,  much  learn- 


THE  CENTURION'S  STORY.  125 

ing  doth  make  thee  mad.'  And  Paul  replied,  *!  am 
not  mad,  most  noble  Festus,  but  I  speak  the  words  of 
truth  and  soberness.  For  the  king  knoweth  of  these 
things  (the  prophecies  concerning  the  Messiah)  to 
whom  on  that  account  I  speak  with  confidence;  for,  I 
am  persuaded  that  none  of  these  things  are  unknown 
to  him;  for  neither  were  any  of  these  things  done  in  a 
a  corner.  Believest  thou  the  prophets,  king  Agrippa  ? 
I  know  that  thou  dost  believe  them.'  But  how  .shall 
I  repeat  his  arguments?  Suffice  it  that  the  king 
exclaime  1,  in  hearing  them:  *In  a  little  time  thou 
persuadest  me  to  become  a  Christian!'  *I  would  to 
God,'  said  Paul,  'that  in  little  and  in  much,  not  only 
thou;  but  also  all  that  hear  me  this  day,  should  become 
such  as  I  also  am,  except  these  bonds.'  " 

'*The  last  morning,"  continued  Julius,  "had  not 
dawned  upon  onr  voyage,  when  I  was  already 
stationed  on  the  prow  to  catch  the  first  sight  of  long 
sighed -for  Italy.  Like  a  transparent  veil  upon  a 
picture,  or  a  fair  group  of  Phidias,  there  extended  a 
dim  mist  over  shore  and  ocean;  but,  when  the  jocund 
god  of  morn  lifted  it  away,  who  j^all  conceive  the 
vision  that  broke  upon  our  senses;  that  has  not  gazed, 
as  we  did  then,  in  ecstacies,  upon  the  bay  and  sur- 
rounding scenery  of  Neapolis  ? 

"Argosies  of  merchant  ships  from  Egypt,  and  Tyre, 
and  Cyrene.  and  even  from  isles  remote,  and  cities  of 
great  commerce,  beyond  the  straits  of  Hercules,  were 
interspersed  along  the  wavy  mirror  of  the  deep,  with 
martial  gallies,  glittering  with  shield  and  helmet. 
Warlike  nuisic  came  along  the  waters;  the  mellow 
horn  and  the  timbrel  chimed  in  with  songs  in  many 
dialects,  as  the  mariners  spread  their  various  colored 


126  THE  CENTURION'S  STORY. 

sails  to  catch  the  matin  breeze,  redolent  of  the  orange 
groves  and  gardens  of  pleasure  along  the  beauteous 
shores.  Oh!  it  was  a  sight  entrancing;  and  to  sit  one 
down,  like  a  circumspect  geographer,  to  measure  dis- 
tances and  note  down  bearings,  while  in  their  first 
tumult,  the  senses  could  hardly  believe  the  scene's 
reality,  would  have  been  to  outrage  every  franchise  of 
imagination.  But  when  the  noon- tide  calm  left  the 
weary  galliots  to  sleep  along  their  decks,  I  leant  over 
the  ship's  side,  in  the  shadow  of  the  lofty  rigging;  and 
while  Paul  and  his  disciple  recited  their  alternate 
prayer,  I  rehearsed  the  scenery  at  leisure,  perused  it, 
line  by  line,  and  felt  my  delight  increase  the  more  I 
ruminated  on  the  lore  of  history,  and  recalled  the 
fantasies  with  which  inspired  genius  has  embellished 
its  indigenous  traditions.  Rude  at  the  best  must  be 
the  etchings  of  a  hand  inured  only  to  the  sanguinary 
implements  of  war;  and  besides,  since  then,  the 
impressions  of  that  bland  reverie  have  been  swept  over 
by  some  turbulent  and  deformed  years.  Nevertheless 
some  thoughts  remain. 

If  you  commence  the  circuit  on  the  right,  as  yoa 
are  sailing  into  the  crater  bay,  the  land  begins  at  Capa 
Minerva,  and  is  abrupt  and  hilly  on  by  the  Surren- 
tiuum,  until  you  come  to  Stabia,  where  the  ridges  sub- 
side into  the  smiling  valley  of  the  Sarnus,  having  on 
its  right  bank  the  sport-loving  little  town  of  Pompeii, 
founded  by  a  Greek  colony  of  the  Theloboi  orTaphi- 
ans,  a  piratical  people  from  the  mouth  of  the  Achelous, 
who  extended  their  dominion  over  the  surrounding 
shores,  after  having  seized  on  Caprea,  in  the  first  in- 
stance. It  was  to  this  delicious  isle  that  Tiberius  re- 
turned to  spend  the  last  years  of  his  hateful  exij-tence 

Paley. 


THE  CENTURION'S  STORY,  127 

in   debauchery   the   most  shocking   and  in  the  dark 
practices  of  magic,  to  which  he  was  addicted. 

"Oh!  with  what  mingled  rage  and  wonder  the  rois- 
terers of  Pompeii  and  the  other  sojourns  of  dalliance 
did  look  and  laugh  at  Paul  denouncing  anathemas 
against  the  passions,  calling  upon  all  who  would  escape 
from  wrath  to  come  'to  crucify  the  deeds  of  the  flesh.* 
Then  laying  bare  their  depravities,  which  had  become 
not  only  inbred,  but  so  many  tests  of  piety,  he  de- 
scribed to  them  in  tones  that  held  their  spirits  cower- 
ing and  chained  with  dread,  how  God  had  rained 
down  fire  on  Sodom  and  the  Pentapolis  for  similar  ex- 
cesses— cursing  with  barrenness  and  fetid  desolation 
and  death,  the  sea,  the  shore,  the  very  atmosphere  of 
regions  the  most  teeming  and  beautiful  of  all  the  land 
that  'flowed  with  milk  and  honey.*  Then  pointing  to 
Vesuvius,  at  the  base  of  which  he  stood,  the  captive 
proclaimed  with  the  vehemence  of  inspiration  that,  if 
like  Nineveh  of  old,  ihey  did  not  seek  for  mercy  in 
seasonable  repentance,  the  crisis  was  not  dtstant  when 
a  deluge  of  fire  and  wliirlwinds  of  red-hot  ruin  would 
overwhelm  them  in  their  sins. 

"After  seven  days,  in  which  my  captive  visited  his 
brethren,  who  were  in  these  parts,  we  retractd  the 
steps  of  Horace,  along  the  Via  Appia,  and  so  came  to 
Rome.  His  chains  hung  lightly  on  the  captive  while  I 
remained,  and  before  I  was  ordered  off  to  Britain,  I 
knew  he  would  be  shortly  set  at  liberty. 

"Why  do  I  dwell  \\\to\\  every  trivial  incident  con- 
nected with  one  comparatively  so  contemptible,  a  Jew- 
ish artisan,  an  enthusiist,  an  atheistic  wretch,  as  you 
call  him,  already  doomed?  Because,  Ventidius,  now 
that  I  reflect  upon   his  career  and  conversation,  I  am 


THE  CENTURION'S  STORY. 

astonished  why,  long  ago,  I  have  not  been  what  I  am 
now,  and  what  I  shall  proclaim  myself,  before  the  le- 
gions and  the  Roman  people  ere  the  sun  which  already 
streaks  the  summit  of  the  Alban  hills  with  aigent 
light  shall  set.  Why  scales  of  impenetrable  stupidity 
thicker  than  those  which  once  fell  from  his  own  eyes, 
or  than  this  cuirass  on  my  breast,  must  have  hung 
upon  my  mental  vision.  How  did  I  miss  perceiving 
till  this  instant  when  it  comes  upon  me  like  a  burst  of 
sunlight,  that  his  mission  must  be  from  God? 

'*It  was  evident  as  we  led  him  into  Rome,  that  he 
came,  not  as  a  culprit,  but  as  a  conqueror.  For  thirty 
miles  his  progress  along  the  great  Appian  thorough- 
fare was  a  triumph.  No  spolia  opima  ever  looked  so 
proud,  or  won  such  admiration  as  the  chains  with 
which  Paul  was  bound  for  Christ;  and  we  the  legion- 
ers  of  Rome,  were  but  a  guard  of  honor  to  conduct  this 
envoy  upon  the  errands  of  the  Crucified;  as  if  Caesar 
were  a  vassal,  under  penalty  to  provide  for  the  trans- 
port and  safe  conduct,  by  sea  and  land,  of  those  who 
preached  His  Gospel. 

The  very  elements  in  their  wildest  rage  respected 
him.  When  iron  hearted  veterans  lay  paralyzed  with 
dread  upon  the  deck,  this  feeble  scorned  Christian 
•stood  forth  amongst  us  like  a  deity.  *Be  ye  of  good 
cheer,'  he  cried,  'for  there  shall  be  no  loss  of  any 
man's  life  among  you,  but  only  of  the  ship.  For  an 
angel  of  God,  whose  I  am,  and  whom  I  serve,  stood  by 
me  to-night  saying,  'Fear  not,  Paul,  thou  must  be 
brought  before  Caesar;  and  behold  God  hath  given 
thee  all  them  that  sail  with  thee.'  Every  tittle  was 
verified  as  he  predicted.  I  waive  the  proof,  from  his 
miracles,  which  we  all  beheld  in  Melita,  that  God  is 


THE  CENTURION'S  STORY.  129 

with  him.  His  mere  apostleship  evinces  that  he  is  the 
accredited  ambassador  of  the  Divinity.  Why  should 
he  leave  an  ancient  and  renowned  profession,  in  which 
he  was  on  the  high  road  to  fortunes,  for  a  recent  and 
persecuted  sect;  the  members  of  which  would  regard 
him  with  distrust,  if  not  with  aversion,  on  account  of 
his  past  cruelties;  while,  by  his  former  associates  and 
patrons,  he  was  to  be  branded  and  pursued  as  an  apos- 
tate? If  an  impostor,  or  a  dupe,  how  account  for  his 
successes  ?  of  which  not  only  the  fame,  but  the  effects 
have  spread  throughout  every  province  of  the  empire, 
and  extended  far  beyond  the  frontiers?  We  see  him 
in  the  prosecution  of  his  purpose,  traveling  from 
country  to  country,  enduring  every  species  of  hard- 
ship, encountering  every  species  of  danger,  assaulted 
by  the  populace,  punished  by  the  magistrates,  scourged, 
beat,  stoned,  left  for  dead;  expecting  wherever  he  came, 
a  renewal  of  the  same  treatment,  and  the  same  dan- 
gers; yet,  when  driven  from  one  city,  preaching  in  the 
next,  spending  his  whole  time  in  this  employment, 
sacrificing  to  it,  his  pleasures,  his  ease,  his  safety, 
persisting  in  his  course  to  old  age,  unaltered  by 
perverseness,  ingratitude,  prejudice,  desertion;  unsub- 
dued by  anxiety,  want,  labor,  persecution;  unwearied 
by  long  confinement,  undismayed  by  the  prospect  of 
death.  The  question  is,  has  imposture  been  ever 
found,  is  it  possible  to  conceive  it,  sustaining  a  char- 
acter like  this  ?  Hypocrites  and  charlatans  there  have 
been,  and  are,  in  abundance;  but  it  is  an  example  to 
be  met  with,  of  a  man  voluntarily  undertaking,  for  no 
earthly  consideration,  a  life  of  want  and  pain,  of  inces- 
sant fatigue,  of  continual  peril;  submitting  to  the  loss 
of  his  home  and  country,  to  stripes  and  stoning,  to 


130  THE  CENTURION'S  STORY, 

tedious  imprisonment,  and  the  constant  expectation  of 
a  violent  death,  for  the  sake  of  carrying  about  a  story 
of  what  was  false,  and  of  what,  if  false,  he  must  have 
known  to  be  so  ? 

But  why  do  I  tarry  here  ?  Already  day  is  on  us; 
and  a  strange  yearning  to  kiss  the  chains,  to  gaze  upon 
the  countenance,  to  hear  the  heaven-inspired  voice  of 
Paul,  has  seized  me.  Conduct  me  to  him,  good  prae- 
torian: and,  as  to  the  argument  of  my  conversion,  if  you 
would  know  the  sequel  of  it,  mark  well  the  words  of 
him,  who  stepping  from  the  ranks  to-day,  shall,  at  the 
'Salvian  waters'  lay  down  his  military  belt,  and  take 
his  portion,  no  longer  with  the  tools  of  a  sceptred 
matricide  and  incendiary  of  his  country,  but  with  the 
champion  of  heaven's  emperor.  Where  have  they 
imprisoned  him?" 

"Where  many  a  vanquished  enemy  of  Rome  has  got 
his  guerdon — where  Cethegus  and  Lentulus  were 
strangled — Jugurtha  starved  to  death — where"  — 

''Enough,  Lead  on,  to  the  Tullianum.  But,  hark  ! 
with  what  jubilee  their  voices,  rising,  from  the  lowest 
dungeon  of  the  Mamertine,  like  Matin  fragrance  to 
the  skies,  salute  with  alternate  hymns  of  praise,  the 
day  in  which  they  are  "to  be  dissolved  and  be  with 
Christ!" 

MARTYRDOM    AND    BURIAI,'  OF   SS.     PETER    AND     PAUL. 

But  when  the  subsiding  tumult  evinced  that  the 
city,  overpowered  by  surfeiting  and  drunkenness,  had 
sunk  into  a  delirious  stupor,  to  be  haunted  with  night- 
mare visions  of  the  murders  and  debaucheries  in  which 
it  had  been  rioting,  there  ventured  forth  under  the 
azure  gloom  of  night,  a  little  band  of  disciples,  who 
often  paused  to  listen,  or  drew  aside  in  trepidation  un  - 


MARTYRDOM  OF  SS.  PETER  AND  PAUL.       131 

der  the  deep  shade  of  arch  and  portico,  until  at  last 
they  found  themselves  beyond  the  Tiber,  on  the  high- 
est ridge  of  the  Janiculum.  There  the  lifeless  body  of 
St.  Peter  still  hung  upon  the  cross,  to  which  the  per- 
secutors had  nailed  his  venerable  hands  and  feet.  Ah! 
it  was  a  piteous  sight.  The  beard  and  the  grey  hairs 
of  the  venerable  man,  were  clotted  with  the  gore, 
trickling  down  from  the  wounds  by  which  he  hung, 
and  bedeuring  his  limbs,  emaciated  with  age  and 
apostolic  labours.  His  features  were  obliterated  with 
blood  and  livid  tumors,  as  if  they  had  struck  him  heav- 
ily on  the  face;  and  that  frame  whose  very  shadow 
used  to  raise  up  the  ulcerous  cripple,  and  the  plague- 
struck  from  their  litters  had  now  "no  soundness  in  it." 
Oh,  how  changed  since  that  bright  hour  on  Tabor; 
when  he  exclaimed  in  ecstacy,  '"Lord  it  is  good  for  us 
to  be  here!"  Dim,  drowned  in  gore,  was  that  eye 
which  had  grown  familiar  with  the  Incarnate  Word; 
the  feet  that  Jesus  washed,  that  had  carried  the  tid- 
ings of  salvation  round  provinces  and  kingdoms,  were 
torn  with  ghastly  wounds;  transfixed  to  the  hard  wood 
was  that  hand  which  raised  the  paralytic  in  the  portico 
called  the  "Beautiful,"  and  lifted  Tabitha  from  the 
bier;  frozen  the  tongue  that  upbraided  "the  whole 
house  of  Israel  with  decide;  and  launched  forth  the 
suggestions  of  the  Paraciete  in  themid.sl  of  Jerusalem. 
with  such  potency,  as  to  lay  prostrate,  in  adoration  of 
Jesus,  thousands  who  had  shouted  "Not  him.  but 
Barabbas!" 

The  Christians,  Timotheus  and  his  venerable  parent 
being  of  the  number,  were  heart  broken  with  grief  tt 
beholding  him;  the  very  stars  of  heaven  looked  down 
as  if  they  were  afflicted,  so  pensive  was  the  light  they 


132       MARTYRDOM  OF  SS.  PETER  AND  PAUL. 

shed  upon  the  martyred  body,  and  the  group  that 
gazed  upon  it  with  streaming  eyes,  their  hands  clasped, 
or  lifted  in  the  excess  of  their  tribulation.  But  no 
loud  cry,  no  wailing  escaped  even  from  the  virgin  ten- 
derness of  Pudentiana  and  Praxede,  who  were  assidu- 
ous in  helping  their  mother  Claudia,  and  the  other 
Christian  matrons,  to  collect  every  drop  of  gore  in 
sponges,  and  to  deposit  in  caskets  the  very  sand  satu- 
rated with  his  blood.  No  sound  broke  the  dead  still- 
ness of  the  night,  but  stifled  sobs,  and  the  almost  mute 
murmuring  of  psalmody,  as  they  drew  out  the  nails, 
deposited  also  with  care  in  another  casket;  receiving 
into  their  arms  with  great  reverence  the  gory  burden 
now  loosened  from  the  gibbet,  they  wrapped  it  hastily 
in  a  shroud;  and  then  with  trembling  haste,  having 
sent  some  before  to  reconnoitre,  bore  it  away  through 
by-paths  and  thickets  until  they  came  to  a  lonely  re- 
gion among  the  sand-mines  of  the  Vatican.  Not  far 
off  was  a  grove  and  oracle  of  Apollo,  where  a  stream 
fell  with  a  murmuring  sound  into  a  little  glen,  shaded 
here  and  there  with  olives  and  wild  vines.  Here, 
some  others  issuing  from  a  crypt,  with  muffled  lights, 
helped  to  convey  the  apostle's  body  down  the  glen-side; 
but  at  a  turn  of  the  rugged  descent,  they  all  suddenly 
disappeared  as  if  by  some  subterraneous  passage  con- 
cealed by  brushwood;  and  after  traversing,  by  the 
light  of  flambeaux,  a  succession  of  long,  narrow  corri- 
dors, apparently  without  end  or  order — a  labyrinth  of 
darkness — they  came  at  last  to  where  they  were  anx- 
iously expected  by  nearly  all  the  clergy  and  laity  of 
Rome,  assembled  in  the  heart  of  the  catacombs. 

When  those  who  had  borne  the  apostle's  body  from 
the  cross  on  the  Janiculum,  and  conveyed  it  in  through 


MARTYRDOM  OF  SS.  PETER  AND  PAUL.       133 

the    dismal    labyrinth   of   the   catacombs,    at   length 
arrived  where  they  were  so  anxiously  expected,  and  had 
silently  deposited  their  hallowed  burden  upon  a  bier 
or  catafalque  in  the  midst  of  the  assembly,  there  was 
at  first  a  profound  stillness,  a  syncope  as  it  were  of  the 
very  breathing  and  pulsations  of  vitality;  and  with 
looks  rendered  more  pale  by  the  glare  of  lamps  and 
torches,  their  eyes  were  turned  from  the  lifeless  CDrpse 
of  St.  Peter  upon  each  other  in  emotions  that  baffled 
utterance.     Their  half  stifled  sobs,  the  moanings  of 
grief,  and  a  low  wailing,  rendered  more  intensely  pit- 
eous by  the  efforts  made  to  stifle  it,  at  last  burst  forth 
into  gusts  of  tribulation  so  loud  and  universal  as  to 
fill  the  crypts   with   echoes  of   woe  through    all  their 
most  remote   galleries   and   recesses.     St.    Linus  de- 
scending from  the  chair,  where  the  Prince  of  the  apos- 
tles, assisted  by  St.  Paul,  had  installed  him.     St.  Cle- 
tus,  St.  Clement,  St.  Anacletus,  with  a  crowd  of  holy 
bishops,  who  had  come  on  various  errands,  and  from 
all  lands  to   the  "apostolic  see,"  to  the  * 'mother  of 
Churches"  and  the  "chair  of  unity,"  came,  and  kneel- 
ing beside  the  body,  or  at  its  feet,  kissed  its  wounds 
with  the  tenderest  veneration,  next  the  Roman  clergy, 
that  august  body  of  presbyters  and  deacons,  who  had 
co-operated  with  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  in  the  apos- 
tolic see;  and,  finally,  the  laity,   in  their  classes,  ac- 
cording to  sex  and  age,  gathered  around  their  great 
patriarch  and  father  in  the  faith;  nor  did  they  cease  to 
kiss  his  wounded  feet,  or  to  pour  out  floods  of  tears, 
until  every  stain  of  gore  had  been  washed  from  his 
venerable  limbs. 

"These  teais."  said  St.  Linus,  "we  do  not  inhibit; 
to  do  so  would  be  cruel  and  unnatural,  and  subsersive 


134       MARTYRDOM  OF  SS,  PETER  AND  PAUL, 

of  hallowed  custom.  Our  Ivord  wept  over  lyazarns. 
Imitate  His  example,  therfore;  let  your  wailing  not  be 
immoderate,  but  serene,  and  tempered  with  the  fear  of 
God.  If  thus  you  mourn,  no  offense  is  offered  to  the 
hope  of  resurrection;  your  tears  will  only  be  a  salu- 
tary confession  of  that  living  charity  which  causes 
each  member  of  Christ's  mystical  body  to  sympathize 
with  all  of  the  others;  and  if  it  be  an  act  of  filial  piety  . 
for  children  to  weep  and  be  afflicted  when  a  fond  pa- 
rent leaves  them,  though  it  be  only  to  go  into  some 
distant  province  and  return,  or  to  make  a  voyage  at 
sea.  Alas,  shall  it  not  be  meet  and  just  in  us,  equita- 
ble and  sulutary,  to  weep  and  mourn  after  the  depart- 
ure of  the  great  father  of  the  faithful  though  it  be  to 
receive  a  diadem  and  his  throne  the  kingdom  through 
which  we  all  hope  to  come?"* 

And  small  blame  to  the  Romans  for  being  discon- 
solate when  they  called  to  mind  the  extent  of  St.  Pe- 
ter's claims  upon  their  gratitude,  and  of  the  loss  the 
infant  church  had  sustained  in  his  death. 

While  absorbed  in  sorrow,  profound  but  still  tem- 
pered by  resignation  and  hope,  and  busied  in  embalm- 
ing the  venerable  body  and  arraying  it  in  its  vest- 
ments and  insignia,  they  were  suddenly  filled  wdth 
terror  by  rapid  foot-falls  and  the  gleam  of  lights  com- 
ing along  the  galleries  from  towards  the  entrance  of 
the  catacombs;  but  just  as  the  bishops  and  clergy  were 
lifting  the  body  to  hurry  away  with  it  into  recesses 
still  more  profound,  the  salutation  of  "Peace  be  to 
you"  from  well-known  voices,  reassured  them  again, 
and  almost  forgetting  for  an  instant  the  immediate  ob- 
ject of  their  sorrow  and  solicitude,  they  hung  upon 
the  lips  of  the  new  comers  while  they  described  the 
"^ St.  John  Chrysostoni. 


MARTYRDOM  OF  SS.  PETER  AND  PAUL,       135 

glorious  triumphs  by  which  St,  Paul  had  terminated 
his  career  and  borne  away  his  crown.  It  was  at  a 
place  called  the  Salvian  waters — ad  aquas  Salvias — 
about  three  miles  from  the  Ostian  gate,  where  there 
are  three  little  springs,  that  he  was  beheaded.  Xero 
himself,  who  had  been  vehemently  incensed  against 
the  apostle  for  having  converted  some  of  his  para- 
mours to  a  life  of  sanctity,  was  present  to  satiate  his 
innate  cruelty  and  to  entertain  Tiridates,  the  great 
Scythian  satrap  and  magician,  by  this  sight;  but  even 
under  the  despot *s  eye,  and  unappalled  by  the  array 
of  death  that  awaited  them,  three  of  the  praetorians, 
one  of  them  Julius,  stepped  forth  from  the  ranks,  ac- 
coutred as  they  were,  to  lay  down  their  military  gir- 
dles and  proclaim  their  faith  in  that  Jesus  for  whom 
Paul  was  about  to  die. 

The  holy  offices  of  the  nocturns  then  commenced, 
and  mingling  the  psalms  of  King  David  with  lessons 
of  Holy  Writ  and  with  canticles  and  hymns,  their 
anguished  spirits  were  soothed  by  degrees,  and  as  the 
holy  rites  of  the  liturgy  proceeded,  their  sorrow  was 
turned  into  joy.  Their  strong  and  lively  faith  in  the 
communion  of  saints  exalted  their  thoughts  from  the 
dreary  crypts  to  the  palace  of  the  eternal  King  of 
glory,  and  it  was  no  longer  emaciated  and  gory  corpses 
they  beheld,  but  two  princes,  bright  and  sublime,  the 
envy  and  admiration  of  applauding  heaven,  as  each  is 
crowned  with  a  "diadem  unfading"  by  the  right  hand 
of  the  Eternal.  After  the  pledge  of  Christian  charity 
mutually  given  according  to  their  respective  classes  as 
to  age  and  sex,  the  offertory,  and  preface,  they  took 
up  the  triumphal  hymn  with  such  fervor,  as  the  holy 
pontiff  Linus  was  entering  on  the  Canon  or  action  of 


136       MARTYRDOM  OF  SS.  PETER  AND  PAUL. 

the  Mass,  that,  "Holy,  holy,  holy  Lord  God  of  Saba- 
oth,  full  are  the  heavens  and  the  earth  of  Thy  glory," 
resounded  through  the  catacombs,  and  having  pro- 
foundly adored  and  participated  in  the  body  and  blood 
of  the  Lord,  such  grace  and  fortitude  came  to  them  with 
this  food  of  strength  and  immortality,  that  they  issued 
from  the  catacombs  not  only  ready  to  suffer  for  the 
name  of  Christ,  but  despising  and  esteeming  as  of  no 
account  the  momentary  trials  by  which  they  were  to 
purchase  "an  eternal  weight  of  glory." 

THK    CATACOMBS. 

From  immemorial  antiquity,  the  catacombs  had  been 
the  mines  from  which  the  sand  had  been  extracted  for 
the  erection  not  only  of  the  enormous  piles  that  cum- 
bered the  seven  hills,  but  of  the  endless  suburbs  that 
spread  out  over  the  Campagna;  for  the  Romans,  who 
set  the  highest  value  on  lands,  from  first  to  last,  and 
were  too  sagacious  to  destroy  a  canopy  that  left  their 
laborers  uninterfered  with  by  the  most  torrid  heats, 
instead  of  opening  wide  pits  on  the  surface,  sunk 
shafts  or  inclined  passages  to  a  considerable  depth, 
and  then  excavating  long,  narrow,  horizontal  galleries 
in  every  direction,  and  so  planned  and  formed  as  not  to 
endanger  the  stability  of  the  ground  above — had  the 
puzzolano  or  sand,  carried  forth  by  slaves  or  beasts  of 
burden,  following  one  another,  each  with  a  small  sack 
or  two  slung  across  the  back,  in  long  droves  through 
the  dark  winding  passages.  And  hence  from  very 
early  times,  the  whole  country  round  the  walls  became 
perforated  and  undermined,  particularly  in  those  re- 
gions of  it  bordering  the  great  roads.  These  original 
excavations  were  gladly  extended  by  the  Christians,  so 
far  as  forming  junction  corridors,  by  which  to  escape 

Miley. 


THE  CATACOMBS.  137 

from  one  catacomb  to  another.  They  also  furnished 
recesses  called  lociili  in  the  sides  of  the  galleries,  like 
tiers  or  shelves,  where  they  deposited  the  martyred 
dead;  they  burrowed  down,  still  torming  catacomb 
below  catacomb  like  the  successive  stages  or  stories  of 
a  house,  as  if  driven  by  persecution  into  the  very 
bowels  of  the  earth.  They  also  formed  shrines  and 
chapels  in  their  subterranean  cities,  even  decorating 
them  with  sacred  paintings. 

"Burrowed  out,"  says  Aringhi,  "with  innumerable 
angles,  nooks,  and  complicated  windings,  not  only 
under  the  hills,  but  the  level  parts  of  all  the  surround- 
ing country,  these  caverns,  or.  as  they  are  more  prop- 
erly called,  crypts,  can  hardly  be  said  to  receive  a 
glimmering  light,  here  and  there,  by  means  of  the 
narrow  holes  or  shafts  between  them  and  the  upper 
world;  and  they  branch  out  into  such  an  infinity  of 
passages,  and  are  so  broken  up  and  subdivided  by  what 
may  be  termed  streets  and  lanes,  winding  about  and 
crossing  and  re-crossing  one  another,  that  a  perfect 
labyrinth  is  formed,  and  that  of  such  immensity,  that 
those  by  whom  they  have  been  explored,  compare 
them,  not  to  one,  but  to  many  cities." 

Represent  to  yourself  a  subterranean  city  of  many 
miles  in  extent,  with  its  different  wards,  known  by 
illustrious  names;  its  numerous  inhabitants  of  both 
sexes,  and  of  all  ages  and  conditions;  its  public  squares 
its  crossings,  its  chapels,  its  churches,  its  paintings,  a 
living  picture  of  the  sentiments  of  the  generations 
whose  abode  it  is;  its  numberless  streets  or  galleries 
ranged  above  one  another  to  the  number  of  four  and 
even  five,  sometimes  low  and  narrow,  sometimes 
straight,  sometimes  crooked,  running  in  all  directions, 


138  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES 

intersecting  one  another,  mixing  with  one  another, 
like  the  passages  of  an  immense  labyrinth;  these  gal- 
leries, these  squares,  these  chapels,  lighted  up  from 
without,  at  various  distances,  by  openings  in  the  sur- 
face of  the  soil,  and  from  within  by  thousands  of 
earthen  or  bronze  lamps,  having  the  shape  of  a  little 
boat;  every  where,  to  the  right  and  to  the  left,  tombs 
cut  horizontally  in  the  sides  of  these  galleries,  even  to 
the  spring  of  the  arches;  these  galleries  so  numerous 
and  extensive,  that  if  they  were  placed  in  a  line,  they 
would  form  a  street  of  nine  hundred  miles  in  length, 
bordered  with  six  million  tombs.  Represent  to  your- 
selves the  Early  Christians  here,  our  ancestors  and 
our  models  pure  as  angels,  obliged  to  conceal  them- 
selves in  order  to  escape  the  contagion  and  the  fury  of 
pagan  society,  offering,  with  the  holy  mysteries,  their 
prayers,  and  their  tears,  either  to  prepare  themselves 
for  martyrdom  or  to  obtain  the  salvation  of  the 
haughty  persecutors  whose  golden  chariots  roll'  noisily 
above  their  heads.  Having  represented  all  this  to 
yourself,  yield  to  the  emotions  of  Faith,  and  you  shall 
have  an  idea  of  the  Catacombs  in  the  days  of  the  In- 
fant Church.* 

THK    FIRST   THREE   CENTURIES. 

No  sooner  had  the  apostles  commenced  to  preach 
the  resurrection  of  their  divine  Master,  than  they  be- 
came the  objects  of  that  hostility  which  had  pursued 
and  followed  Him  to  the  cross.  His  disciples  were 
everywhere  cast  out  from  the  synagogues,  put  under 
the  ban  of  anathema,  and  pursued  with  torture,  im- 
prisonment and  death;  not  only  through  the  land  of 
Palestine,  but  even  **unto  foreign  cities."  The  San- 
hedrim concocted  a  scheme  to  render  them  odious  over 
*Gaume. 


THE  MARTYRS.  139 

the  whole  world.  "With  this  view"  says  St.  Justin, 
Martyr,  "their  emissaries  were  sent  into  all  countries 
with  rescripts,  or  letters,  setting  forth  that  the  Nazar- 
enes  were  an  execrable  sect,  who  adored  as  God  one 
who  had  been  put  to  death  as  a  criminal,  pretending 
that  he  had  arisen  the  third  day,  whereas  his  dead 
body  had  been  stolen  away  by  themselves,  while  the 
Roman  guards  were  asleep. ' ' 

"There  are  three  principal  heads  of  accusation 
against  us,"  says  St.  Athenagoras  in  his  Apology. 
"the  rumor  runs  that  we  are  "atheists,"  that  we  in- 
dulge in  Thyestean  feasts,  and  incestuous  intercourse." 
Similiar  enormities  were  cast  in  the  face  of  the  mar- 
tyrs of  Lyons  and  Vienne  by  their  tormentors. 

Predisposed  to  prosecute  the  objects  of  imputation, 
so  atrocious,  rendered  plausible  by  a  variety  of  circum- 
stances, the  pagans  needed  only  a  hint  from  the  ruling 
powers  to  discharge  their  pent-up  fury  upon  the  de- 
voted race.  Hence,  no  sooner  were  they  prescribed 
by  Nero,  than  they  were  everywhere  pursued  and 
subjected  to  the  most  excruciating  tortures,  as 
wretches  hateful  alike  to  gods  and  men.  They  were 
tormented  by  slow  fires,  some  on  grid  irons,  some 
tied  to  stakes,  some  in  cauldrons  made  redhot;  others 
were  suspended  by  the  feet,  that  while  their  bodies 
were  burned  with  torches  applied  to  the  most  sensi- 
tive parts,  they  might  be  at  the  same  time  suffocated 
by  the  smoke  and  heat.  Tigellinus,  one  of  the  most 
infamous  minions  of  Nero,  and  his  chief  adjutor  in 
burning  the  city,  so  signalized  himself  by  exploits  of 
cruelty,  that  even  the  pagan  writers  animadverted  on 
the  execrable  ingenuity  of  one  species  of  torture,  to 
which  he  seems  to  have  given  the    preference.      The 


140  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES. 

process  is  described  thus:  the  Christian,  stripped,  was 
forced  to  put  on  a  garment  called  the  tunica  molesta, 
made  of  papyrus,  smeared  on  both  sides  with  wax,  and 
was  then  fastened  to  a  high  pole,  from  the  top  of  which 
they  continued  to  pour  down  burning  pitch  and  lard, 
a  spike  fastened  under  the  chain  preventing  the  ex- 
cruciated victim  from  turning  the  head  to  either  side, 
so  as  to  escape  the  liquid  fire,  until  the  whole  body 
and  every  part  of  it  was  literally  clad  and  cased  in 
flame.  Such  multitudes  were  destroyed  by  this  one 
mode  alone,  that  the  whole  area  of  the  Vatican  Circus, 
round  which  they  were  impaled,  was  inundated  knee- 
deep  with  the  residium  of  their  bodies. 

Some  were  chopped  to  atoms;  others  fastened  on 
wheels,  and  torn  to  pieces  by  being  turned  round 
against  serried  spikes  or  hooks  of  iron.  They  were 
stoned  to  death,  beheaded,  crucified,  whipped  with 
what  they  called  scorpions,  till  their  bones  and  entrails 
were  laid  bare;  they  were  fastened  to  wild  horses,  who 
dashed  their  heads  against  rocks,  and  tore  their  bodies 
.through  thickets  and  rough  ways  in  their  flight.  Some 
besmeared  with  honey,  were  tied  to  stakes,  under  a 
broiling  sun,  that  they  might  be  stung  and  eaten  alive 
by  wasps  and  insects;  others  were  flung  into  holes  to 
be  devoured  by  rats;  others  were  buried  alive;  others, 
while  living  were  fastened  to  putrid  carcasses,  or 
crushed  between  huge  blocks  of  stone,  or  were  torn  to 
pieces  by  lions,  tigers,  or  eaten  by  wild  dogs;  they 
smeared  their  bodies  with  pitch  and  set  fire  to  them; 
poured  boiling  lead  upon  their  head,  or  cast  their 
bodies  into  it,  or  made  them  sit  naked  in  chairs  of 
iron  at  a  red  heat;  they  put  them  into  nets,  to  be 
tossed  on  the  horns  of  wild  bulls,  or  into  sacks  with 


THE   MARTYRS  141 

dogs  and  serpents,  and  cast  them  into  the  sea;  they 
tore  the  flesh  from  their  limbs  with  iron  prongs  and 
cards,  plucked  out  their  teeth  and  their  hair  with  pin- 
cers, cut  off  their  ears,  their  noses,  tore  out  their 
tongues,  inserted  reeds  under  the  nails  of  their  toes 
and  fingers,  chopped  off  their  hands  and  feet,  flayed 
them  alive,  disemboweled  them,  or  distended  their 
bodies  upon  racks,  until  every  bone  started  from  its 
socket.  *'The  judge  gloried  in  devising  new  and  un- 
heard-of tortures,"  says Eusebius.  "It  was  deemed  a 
virtue  in  them  to  do  so.  It  was  their  whole  study,  the 
summit  of  their  ambition;  and  that  one  triumphed  over 
the  others,  who  surpassed  them  in  refinement  of 
cruelty." 

"It  would  be  vain,"  says  Lactantius,  '  to  attempt 
the  description  of  the  atrocities  which  the  ministers  of 
the  imperial  vengeance  have  perpetrated  on  the  disci- 
ples of  Christ,  in  every  region  of  the  world.  Merely 
to  enumerate  the  various  species  of  torments  devised  by 
their  cruelties  would  necessitate  several  chapters,  for 
each  followed  the  peculiar  bent  of  his  own  barbarous 
caprice,  having  received  unlimited  power  over  his  vic- 
tims. Some,  through  apprehension  of  being  accused 
of  lenity,  surpassed  the  cruel  orders  they  had  received 
some  were  incited  by  the  hatred  they  had  conceived 
against  us;  others,  by  a  desire  to  recommend  themselves 
to  the  prince's  favor  and  gain  promotion;  like  that 
Judge  in  Phrygia,  who  set  fire  to  the  church  when  the 
faithful  were  assembled  in  it.  and  burned  them  all  to 
death." 

Even  the  poor  alleviation  of  sympathy  was  dented 
to  the  Christians.  The  Redeemer  had  repeatedly  ad- 
monished his  disciples,  that  they  were  to  be  **hated  of 


142  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES. 

all  for  His  Name's  sake";  and  so  they  were.  No  mat- 
ter what  calamity  befell  the  empire;  "To  the  lions 
with  the  Christians!"  was  the  cry.  *'If  the  Tiber 
rises,"  says  Tertullian,  "or  the  Nile  does  not;  if  an 
earthquake  or  drought  occur,  the  Christians  are  still 
the  guilty  cause  ' '  The  whole  circus  and  amphitheatre 
rose  up  to  demand  the  blood — the  extermination  of  the 
detested  race.  Such  clamors  could  hardly  be  resisted; 
but  the  emperors  and  the  Roman  Magistrates  were  ever 
ready  to  lend  them  a  willing  ear  The  dispensers  of 
justice  not  only  sentenced  the  Christians  who  were 
brought  before  the  tribunals,  but  declared  that  all  were 
at  liberty  to  treat  them  ''quasi  non  amplius  homines 
essent,''  "as  if  they  were  not  human  beings."  "It 
would  seem"  wTites  an  eye-witness  of  one  of  those 
terrific  outbreaks,  *  as  if  the  whole  world  had  con- 
spired for  our  destruction." 

It  was  under  the  pressure  of  trials  such  as  these, 
and  not  from  predilection,  that  Christianity  resorted  to 
the  catacombs.  The  earliest  Christian  use  made  of 
them  was  for  the  interment  of  the  martyrs,  an  office 
of  the  most  pious  and  ardent  solicitude  among  the  dis- 
ciples of  our  Lord  from  the  very  first.  Nor  were  they 
more  zealous  to  discharge  than  were  the  persecutors  to 
prevent  it.  They  frequently  cast  the  bodies  of  the 
martyrs  into  the  cloacae  of  the  city  or  into  the  Tiber, 
•finding  that  this  could  not  frustrate  the  invincible 
piety  of  the  survivors,  they  used  to  throw  them  where 
they  might  be  devoured  by  birds  of  prey  or  by  dogs, 
setting  guards  to  watch  them  from  some  distant  emi- 
nence or  tower;  in  fine  the  very  bones  they  used  to 
burn,  and  cast  the  ashes  on  the  passing  river,  to  de- 
stroy, as  they  thought,  their  hope  of  a  resurrection. 


THE  MARTYRS.  143 

At  other  times  they  mixed  them  up  with  the  bones  of 
brute  beasts,  that  the   Christians  might  not  be  able  to 
discover  them,  but  vain  were  the  attempts  of  pagan  mal- 
ice in  competition  with  the  ingenuity  and  heroism  of 
Christian  charity.     Even   by  timid  virgin  hands  the 
precious  relics  of  Christ's  champions  were  rescued  as 
it  were   from   the  lion's  mouth,  every  drop   of  their 
blood  collected  and   religiously  enshrined   with  their 
bodies,  or  whatever  remained  of    them.     Not   unfre- 
quently  the  instruments  of  torture,  or   fac-similes  of 
them,  were  also  deposited  in  their  tombs.     Christians 
in  large  numbers  fell  victims  to  their  fearless  zeal  in 
discharging   these  hallowed   rites,  and  sometimes  the 
intensity  of  tribulation  in  this  most  trying  grievance 
could  not  be  restrained  from  breaking  forth  into  com- 
plaint; but  still    under   the  dirciction   of  deacons  ap- 
pointed for  the  purpose,  and  in  the  face  of  every  dan- 
ger, the  bodies  were  sought  out,  every  bone  and  frag- 
ment of  the  mangled  frame,  and  the  very  blood  stains, 
were  religiousiy  collected.     Not  only  that,  but  the  ob- 
sequies were  performed  with  all   solemnity,  and  the 
name  of  the  martyr,  with  some  holy   emblem — as  a 
palm  branch,  a   dove  with    the  olive,   the  icthus,  or 
monogram  of  Christ — were  usually  sculptured  on  the 
slab  closing  up  the  loculutn  or  recess  for  the  body, 
albeit  with  little  of  arti.stic  skill,  and  apparently  with  a 
hand  unsteady,  either  from  trepidation  or  from  grief. 
"Assemble  in  the  cemeteries,"  says  St.  Clement,  pope 
and  disciple  of  St.  Peter,  "there  attend  to  the  lectures 
from  the  sacred  books;  as  also  to  the  recital  of  psalms 
and  h>nins  for  the  martyrs,  for  all  the  saints  departed 
from  this  world,  and   for  all  our  brethren  who  have 
died  in  the  faith.     Let  the  eucharistic  mystery  accept- 


144  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES. 

able  to  God  be  offered  up  when  you  thus  assemble  in 
the  cemeteries,  and  so  fail  not  to  follow  your  departed 
brethren  in  the  faith  with  chanting  of  psalms." 

It  is  plain  from  the  tenor  of  this  text  that  even  in 
the  lifetime  of  the  apostles,  the  catacombs  had  already 
become,  not  only  the  cemeteries  of  the  Christians,  but 
their  only  churches;  there  they  received  instruction, 
heard  the  Gospel  preached,  recited  or  sung  the  divine 
offices,  according  to  the  appointed  hours,  and  joined  in 
solemn  formularies  of  prayer;  but,  above  all,  in  the 
eucharistic  sacrifice  for  the  souls  of  the  faithful  de- 
parted. Indeed  it  is  expressly  stated  by  an  ancient 
author,  that  St.  Peter  himself  was  in  the  habit  of  dis- 
charging the  sacred  functions  of  the  apostleship  in  the 
catacombs.  "Pope  lyiberius,  A.  D.  352,  dwelt  about 
three  miles  from  the  city,"  says  Anastasius,  'H71  the 
cemetery  of  Novella,  and  near  to  that  of  Ostrianus, 
where  Peter  used  to  baptize. ' '  He  used  also  to  preach  in 
and  baptize  in  the  sand  crypts  of  the  Vatican. 

POPES  OF  THE  CATACOMBS. 

POPES  FROM  ST.  PETER  TO  MIDDI.E  OF  THIRD 
CENTURY. 

It  was  amidst  the  sorrows  and  the  sufferings  of  the 
catacombs,  that  the  foundations  of  that  throne  were 
laid  and  consolidated  that  has  seen  so  many  proud  dy- 
nasties disappear,  and  has  itself  defied  so  many  assaults 
of  time  and  violence.  There  the  apostolical  succession 
was  continued  in  spite  of  every  effort  to  interrupt  it. 
No  sooner  was  one  pontiff  dragged  from  the  chair  of 
Peter  to  martyrdom,  or  massacred  while  seated  in  it 
(as  happened  to  St.  Stephen),  than  a  successor  was 
elected,  ordained,  consecrated  and  enthroned  with  as 


POPES  OF  THE  CATACOMBS,  145 

much  promptitude  and  solemnity  as  if  the  church  en- 
joyed the  most  halcyon  calm.  Linus  succeeds  to 
Peter;  Cletus  succeeds  to  L,inus;  to  Cletus,  Clement;  to 
Clement,  Anacletus;  to  him,  Evaristus;  to  Evaristus, 
Alexander;  to  Alexander,  Sixtus;  then  Telesphorus, 
Hyginus,  Pius,  Anicetus,  Soter,  Eleutherius,  then 
Victor,  then  Zephyrinus,  Callixtus,  Urban,  Pontianus, 
Anterus;  to  Anterus,  Fabian;  to  Fabian,  Cornelius. 

THE   FIRST   THREE    CENTURIES. 

Peter  was  a  Galilean,  Linus  an  Etruscan,  Cletus 
and  Clement  were  of  Rome,  Anacletus  was  of  Athens, 
Evaristus  of  Antioch,  Eleutherius  of  Nicopolis;  an 
African,  St.  Victor,  succeeds  to  a  native  of  Ionia;  the 
anchoret,  St.  Telesphorus  of  Greece,  is  succeeded  by 
an  Athenian  philosopher;  St.  Hyginus,  the  Athenian, 
by  an  Italian;  St.  Pius  of  Aquileia,  to  be  followed  by 
St.  Soter  and  other  Romans;  as  if  every  portion  of 
Christianity  was  to  contribute  its  purest  blood  to 
cement  the  foundations  of  that  throne  which  was 
established,  not  for  any  one  province,  but  for  the 
entire  church;  for,  whether  from  Greece  or  Africa, 
from  Italy  or  Asia,  the  popes  of  the  Catacombs  were 
sure  of  the  martyr's  crown. 

And  as  they  had  borne  his  sublime  office  in  life,  and 
participated  in  his  martyrdom,  neither  were  they 
separated  in  death  from  the  Prince  of  the  Apostles. 
"Martyris  coronatus,  sepultus  est  juxta  corpus  Beati 
Petri,  in  Vaticano;"  that  is  "having  been  crowned 
with  martyrdom,  he  was  laid  near  the  body  of  St. 
Peter,  in  the  Vatican,"  is  generally  during  this  epoch, 
the  conclusion  of  each  pope's  history,  as  we  find  it 
in  Anastasius,  and  in  the  still  more  ancient  collection 
made  from  the  archives  of  the  catacombs,  by    Pope 


146  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES. 

Datnasus  at  St.  Jerome's  request.  It  is  true,  we  read 
of  several  being  interred  in  the  great  catacomb,  hard 
by  the  Appian  way,  now  called  the  catacomb  of  St. 
Sebastian;  but  this  is  only  another  proof  of  their 
anxiety  to  be  laid  beside  St.  Peter's  body,  which,  with 
that  of  St.  Paul,  had  been  translated  for  greater  security 
to  this  cemetery,  called  of  Callixtus,  because  the  holy 
pontiff  of  that  name  had  it  adorned  in  honor  of  the 
apostles.  Even  when  the  popes  died  in  exile,  their 
faithful  deacons  had  their  bodies  carried  to  Rome,  in 
despite  of  every  difficulty  and  danger,  that  they  might 
repose  with  their  predecessors.  Thus,  the  body  of  St. 
Pontianus,  who  suffered  death  by  the  blow  of  a  club, 
in  Sardinia,  whither  he  had  been  banished  with  St. 
Hippolytus,  one  of  the  cardinal  priests,  was  secretly 
conveyed  on  ship-board,  by  the  blessed  Fabianus,  who 
had  it  conveyed  to  Rome,  and  laid  near  the  body  of 
St.  Peter  in  the  cemetery  of  Callixtus. 

But  although  banished  from  the  light  of  day, 
dwelling  in  these  dreary  crypts  and  labyrinths  of 
perpetual  night  and  suffering,  their  influence  extended 
more  widely  than  that  of  Caesar.  Looked  up  to  by 
all  as  the  successors  of  St.  Peter,  as  the  rulers  of  that 
church,  "with  which,  it  was  indispensable  for  all 
churches,  that  is,  for  all  the  faithful  of  Christ,  no 
matter  where  dispersed,  to  be  in  communion,  on 
account  of  its  superior  jurisdiction  or  supremacy," 
the  trustees  of  that  deposit  of  doctrine  inherited  from 
the  two  great  apostles,  established  in  the  chair,  or 
throne,  from  which  sacerdotal  unity  proceeded,  and 
by  which  it  was  to  be  preserved;  all  the  obscurity  of 
the  sepulchres  where  they  dwelt  cannot  conceal  from 
us  their  pre-eminence  and  their  universal  jurisdiction, 
Baronius, 


POPES  OF  THE  CATACOMBS.  147 

in  the  rising  kingdom  of  the  Redeemer.  Through 
them  the  unity  of  the  Church  was  preserved,  and 
found  its  expression.  All  the  bishops  of  the  world 
were  bound  to  be  in  communion  with  the  popes  of  the 
catacombs;  for  to  be  in  ecclesiastical  communion  with 
the  see  of  Peter  was  to  be  in  communion  with  the 
church;  and  no  one  was  considered  a  Catholic  who 
was  separated  from  Rome.  They  were  resorted  to 
from  all  provinces  of  the  Christian  world;  from  Spain 
and  Egypt,  from  Africa  and  Pontus,  as  having 
authority  to  reinstate  those  who  had  been  deposed  or 
separated  from  communion  by  the  local  bishops;  to 
watch  over  the  teaching  even  of  the  greatest  patriarchs; 
to  prevent  innovation  and  enforce  uniformity  in  dis- 
cipline whenever  th*e  welfare  of  the  church  required  it. 
The  authority  by  which  all  heresies  were  confounded, 
which  in  every  crisis  gave  forth  the  watch-word  of 
orthodoxy  (whose  great  champions  it  never  forsook 
and  always  vindicated),  the  see  of  Peter,  the  apostolic 
see  by  excellence,  though  the  most  incessantly  and 
cruelly  persecuted  of  all,  never  ceased  to  watch  with 
vigilant  and  energetic  solicitude  over  the  interests  of 
the  universal  church. 

But,  as  if  the  spiritual  empire  of  Rome,  now  being 
founded  in  the  Catacombs,  were,  in  some  sort,  to  re- 
semble that  empire  of  force,  which,  from  a  beginning 
so  insignificant,  had  arisen  to  such  unexampled  great- 
ness through  a  variety  of  difficulties  and  perils;  while 
extending  its  care  and  its  energies  to  the  most  remote 
frontiers,  and  in  acquiring  new  conquests,  the  Roman 
Church  was  ever  careful  to  keep  up  the  most  rigid 
order  and  discipline  at  home;  nor  did  its  governors  like 
the  great  statesmen  of  the  old  repulic,  ever  contemn  as 


148  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES. 

trifling  and  beneath  their  notice,  anything  that  could 
promote  decorum,  or  by  which  order  might  be  affected. 
The  following  enactments  (chiefly  respective  of  the 
city)  are  taken  from  the  records  transmitted  to  St. 
Jerome  by  Pope  Damasus,  who  no  doubt  had  them 
copied  from  the  original  statutes  and  registries  in  the 
archives.* 

St.  Linus,  who  administered  the  city  even  in  the 
lifetime  and  during  the  intervals  of  absence  of  St. 
Peter,  ordained  by  his  direction,  **that  females  should 
come  veiled  to  assist  at  the  holy  mysteries  and  other 
offices  of  religion;"  a  regulation  of  the  greatest  im- 
portance and  necessity,  when  we  recollect  what  the 
tone  of  female  conduct  was  in  Rome  at  a  time  when 
Messalina  led  the  fashion.  • 

St.  Cletus,  who  had  been  appointed  joint  adminstra- 
tor  (for  the  suburban  districts)  with  St.  Linus,  having 
succeeded  him  in  the  apostolic  chair,  divided  the  city 
between  twenty- five  priests.  St.  Clement  appointed 
* 'seven  regions  to  the  faithful  notaries  of  the  Church," 
whose  office  it  was  with  diligence,  solicitude  and  cir- 
cumspection, to  make  out  the  acts  of  the  martyrs,  each 
in  his  own  region. 

St.  Anacletus  built  an  oratory  over  the  body  of  St. 
Peter,  in  the  Vatican,  where  the  popes  might  be 
buried. 

St.  Evaristus  divided  Rome  into  titles  or  parishes, 
and  ordained  that  seven  deacons  should  attend  the 
bishop  in  the  ministry  of  preaching,  as  the  statute  has 
it — '  ^propter  stylum  veritatis. ' ' 

St.  Alexander  had  recitations  from  the  passion  of 
our  Lord  introduced  into  the  Liturgy  of  prayers  said 
by  the  priest  in  celebrating  Mass — ''passionem  Dmnini 

"^Ex.  Antig.  Codic  MSS,  ap.  Miley. 


POPES  OF  THE  CATACOMBS,  149 

miscuit  in  precationem  sacerdotum  quando  tnissae  ceUbraji- 
tur'' — and  ordained  that  salt  should  be  mingled  in  the 
blessed  water  with  which  the  faithful  sprinkled  their 
blessings. 

St.  Sixtus  ordained  that  none  but  ministers  of  the 
sanctuary  should  touch  the  sacred  vessels;  that  when 
a  bishop  was  summoned  to  the  apostolic  see,  he  should 
not,  unless  furnished  with  salutations  from  the  pon- 
tiff, be  received  in  his  parish  or  diocese,  and  that  as 
the  priest  began  the  canon,  or  action  of  the  Mass — 
'Hiifra  actionem  sacerdotis" — the  congregation  begin- 
ning the  hymn  (called  Triumphal),  should  sing, 
^^Sanctus^  Sandus,  Sandus,  Dominus  Dens  Sabaoth,'^ 
etc. 

St.  Telesphorus  ordained  that  Lent  should  last  seven 
weeks;  that  midnight  masses  should  be  celebrated  on 
the  nativity  of  our  Lord,  and  that  in  the  beginning  of 
the  sacrifice,  the  hymn  of  the  angels,  ''Gloria  in  ex- 
celsis  Deo,''  should  be  chanted. 

St.  Hyginus  arranged  the  privileges  and  order  of 
precedency  among  the  clergy. 

St.  Anicetus  ordained  that  they  should  not  wear 
their  hair  flowing. 

St.  Pius  issued  ordinances  concerning  the  celebra- 
tion of  Easter,  relative  to  which  his  brother  Hermas 
had  a  revelation  confirmatory  of  the  Roman  discipline, 
which  was  ultimately  enforced  all  over  the  church. 

St.  Soter  ordained  that  no  nun — ''nulla  monacha'* — 
should  touch  the  consecrated  vessels,  nor  minister  in- 
cense in  the  church. 

St.  Eleutherius  received  letters  from  Lucius,  king 
of  Britain  (grandson  of  Caractacus),  praying  to  be  re- 
ceived into  the   Church  by  his  mandate,   **«/  Chris* 


150  THE  FIRST  THREE   CENTURIES. 

tianus  efficeretur  per  ejus  mandatum''  that  is,  that  the 
pope  would  send  missionaries  to  instruct  and  baptize 
himself  and  his  people.     He  condemned  the  Gnostic 
practice  of  abstaining  from  certain  kinds  of  food,  as  if 
from  the  evil  principle. 

St.  Victor  renewed  the  ordinance  of  St.  Pius  with 
respect  to  Easter,  and  caused  councils  to  meet  for  that 
purpose  in  all  countries,  from  Gaul  to  Asia.  He  also 
defined  that,  in  case  of  necessity,  any  Gentile  making 
profession  of  the  Christian  faith  might  be  baptized  in 
a  spring,  a  fountain,  or  the  sea. 

St.  Zephyrinus  decreed  that  all  ordinations,  whether 
of  clerics,  levites  (deacons),  or  priests  should  be  held 
in  the  presence  of  the  people;  also,  that  all  the  priests 
should  assist  when  the  bishop  celebrated,  besides  other 
ordinances  relative  to  the  distribution  of  the  Blessed 
Eucharist. 

St.  Callixtus  instituted  the  fast  of  Saturday  thrice  a 
a  year,  to  procure  from  heaven  abundance  of  corn, 
wine,  and  oil. 

St.  Urban  ordained  that  the  sacred  vessels  should  be 
silver;  previously  glass  ones  were  in  use. 

St.  Anterus  caused  a  collection  of  the  Acts  of  the 
Martyrs  to  be  made  and  deposited  securely  in  the  ar- 
chives of  the  church. 

St.  Fabian  divided  the  regions  among  the  deacons, 
and  appointed  six  subdeacons  over  the  notaries  who 
wrote  down  the  "acts"  of  those  who  suffered  martyr- 
dom. He  caused  many  structures  to  be  erected  in  the 
cemeteries. 

St.  Stephen  ordained  that  priests  and  deacons  should 
wear  the  sacred  vestments  only  in  the  church. 

St.    Dionysius   made   a    new    arrangement   of    the 


POPES  OF  THE  CATACOMBS.  151 

churches,  making  the  cemeteries,  parishes. 

St.  Felix  appointed  Masses  to  be  celebrated  on  the 
tombs  of  the  martyrs. 

POPES   OF   REMAINDER   OF    THIRD   CENTURY. 

The  revolt  of  the  Roman  general,  Decius,  occurred 
A.  D.  249.  "No  sooner,"  says  Orosius,  "had  Decius 
made  himself  master  of  the  empire  by  the  defeat  and 
death  of  the  Emperor  Philip  and  his  brother,  than  he, 
as  it  were,  girded  himself  for  the  slaughter  and  perse- 
cution of  the  Christians.  His  general  edict,  the  sev- 
enth fulminated  against  them  since  that  of  Nero,  was 
proclaimed  and  put  in  force  all  over  the  Roman  world; 
and  forthwith  the  gates  of  heaven  began  to  be  thronged 
with  the  multitudes  who  came  up  thither  from  the 
midst  of  the  most  hideous  torments."  It  would  seem 
as  if  all  the  furious  and  revengeful  passions  were  de- 
termined to  have  ample  compensation  for  the  tempo- 
rary check  they  had  experienced  during  the  brief  reign 
of  Philip,  more  disposed  apparently,  to  prevent  than 
promote  the  legalized  and  prescriptive  cruelty  against 
the  Christians;  for  we  are  informed  by  St.  Gregory  of 
Nyssa  that  all  public  and  private  business  was  sus- 
pended, and  that  nothing  else  but  the  great  work  of 
persecution  was  thought  of,  either  by  the  magistrates 
or  the  citizens,  in  their  furious  determination  to  drag 
to  torture  and  exterminate  whomsoever  professed  the 
faith. 

The  Christians  had  long  become  so  numerous,  that 
to  exterminate  them  would  have  been  in  a  great  meas- 
ure to  depopulate  the  empire.  In  a  few  years  Chris- 
tianity had  secured  so  strong  a  foothold  in  the  Roman 
Empire,  as  to  fill  its  disciples  with  joyful  enthusiasm, 
and  its  enemies  with  alarm  and  dismay. 


162  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES. 

Twenty-five  years  after  the  death  of  Christ,  St. 
Paul  writing  to  the  Romans,  congratulates  them  in 
that  their  "faith  is  spoken  of  in  the  whole  world," 
and  of  course,  spoken  of  by  those  who  were  in  sym- 
pathy and  communion  with  the  faith  of  Rome. 

About  thirty  years  later,  Pliny,  propraetor  of 
Bithynia,  in  a  letter  to  the  Kmperor  Trajan  expresses 
his  concern  at  the  growing  numbers  and  influence  of 
the  Christians  in  his  own  and  the  neighboring  province 
of  Pontus.  ''The  contagion  of  this  superstition,"  he 
says,  "has  spread  not  only  to  the  cities,  but  about  the 
villages  and  open  country."  He  adds  that  in  conse- 
quence of  the  rapid  diffusion  of  Christianity  the  tem- 
ples of  the  gods  are  almost  abandoned,  and  the  sale  of 
victims  for  the  sacrifices  well  nigh  suspended.  He 
asks,  therefore,  what  course  he  is  to  pursue  in  check- 
ing the  further  progress  of  the  evil. 

St.  Justin,  Martyr  whose  death  occurred  66  years 
after  that  of  St.  John  the  Evangelist,  declares  that 
"there  is  not  any  one  race  of  men,  Barbarian  or  Greek, 
or  of  those  who  are  nomads  or  shepherds  in  tents, 
among  whom  prayers  and  eucharists  are  not  offered  to 
the  Father  of  the  universe  through  the  name  of  the 
crucified  Jesus." 

St.  Irenaeus,  who  was  born  in  120,  records  with 
great  force  the  marvellous  propagation  of  Christianity 
up  to  his  own  time:  "The  Church,"  he  says,  "scat- 
tered throughout  the  world,  even  unto  the  ends  of  the 
earth,  received  from  the  Apostles  and  their  disciples, 
the  faith  in  one  God,  the  Father  Almighty  *  "^  "^  The 
Church  having  received  this  faith,  although  it  be 
scattered  abroad  through  the  whole  world,  caretully 
preserves  it,  dwelling  as  in  one  habitation,  and  believes 


POPES  OF  THE  CATACOMBS.  153 

alike  in  these  doctrines,  as  though  she  had  one  soul, 
and  the  same  heart  ^-5^  ^  ^  And  although  there  be  many 
diverse  language  in  the  world,  yet  the  power  of  tra- 
dition is  one  and  the  same."  And  he  proceeds  to 
illustrate  by  a  beautiful  comparison,  the  cause  of  this 
unity.  As  the  light,  he  says,  which  illumines  this 
world  is  everywhere  the  same,  because  it  proceeds 
from  Jesus  Christ,  the  S  ni  of  justice. 

Tertullian  who  was  born  about  the  year  i6o,  in  his 
Apologia,  speaks  in  still  more  forcible  language  of  the 
progiess  of  Christianity:  "We  are  but  of  yesterday," 
he  says,  "and  yet  we  have  filled  every  place,  belonging 
to  you,  cities,  islands,  castles,  towns,  assemblies,  your 
very  camp,  your  tribes,  companies,  palaces,  senate, 
forum  We  leave  you  only  your  temples."  Again 
"The  kingdom  of  Christ  has  no  limits.  Everywhere 
there  is  faith  in  Him  All  peoples  honor  Him.  E\'ery- 
where  He  reigns  and  receives  the  tribute  of  adora- 
tion." 

Clement  of  Alexandria,  at  the  close  of  the  second 
century  writes:  'The  word  of  our  Master  did  not  re- 
main in  Judea  as  philosophy  remaii>ed  in  Greece  but  has 
been  poured  out  over  the  whole  world  persuading  Greeks 
and  Barbarians  alike,  race  by  race,  and  village  by 
village,  every  city,  whole  houses  and  hearers,  one  by 
one,  nay  not  a  few  of  these  philosophers  themselves." 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  all  the  writers  quoted, '^lived 
in  the  first  or  second  century,  and  the  latest  of  ihem 
was  removtd  from  our  Saviour  by  an  interval  of  only 
about  150  years.* 

Because  of  the  number  of  conversions,  me  fury  of 
Maximin  had  been  levelled  almost  exclusively  against 
the  hierarchy,  in  the  hope  that  Christianity  would  ex- 
*Card,  Gibbons, 


154  THE  FIRST  THREE   CENTURIES. 

pire  with  those  whose  office  it  was  to  preserve  and 
propagate  it.  But  this  attempt  having  miscarried,  it 
was  resolved  by  Decius  to  destroy  the  faith,  without 
taking  away  the  lives  of  his  Christian  subjects.  With 
this  design  naked  swords,  crosses,  pincers,  and  hooks 
of  iron  for  lacerating  the  flesh,  gridirons  made  red-hot, 
raging  wild  beasts,  gibbets,  and  racks,  with  all  the 
most  horrid  engines  of  torture,  were  arrayed,  by  order 
of  the  pro-consuls  and  governors  of  districts,  around 
their  tribunals,  in  order  to  terrify  those  who  were  led 
before  them  to  abjure  the  faith.  In  submitting  the 
confessors  to  the  racks,  and  to  the  most  diversified 
and  excruciating  tortures,  they  were  ever  cautious  not 
to  endanger  life.  Nay,  after  having  dislocated  and 
broken  the  limbs  of  some,  cut  and  hacked  away  the 
flesh  of  others,  bit  by  bit,  and  inflicted  the  most  cruel 
wounds  in  every  shape  upon  them,  they  caused  their 
bodies  to  be  skilfully  medicated  and  cured,  in  order  to 
render  them  obnoxious  to  new  torments.  In  like  man- 
ner when  those  who  were  confined  in  dungeons  had 
been  reduced  to  death's  door  by  cruel  stripes,  by  the 
weight  of  the  fetters,  and  by  starvation,  they  were 
tended  and  cherished  with  cruel  solicitude,  in  order 
that  they  might  not  escape  from  their  tormentors. 

Every  city  and  village  was  traversed  by  frantic  mobs 
vociferating,  "To  the  lions  with  the  Christians!  The 
Christians  to  the  flames!  Away  with  them  to  the 
cross!"  Nothing  was  to  be  heard  but  the  clanking  of 
chains,  the  mournful  and  piteous  wailings  of  young 
boys,  aged  men,  and  tender  virgins,  as  they  were  in- 
humanly dragged,  with  blows,  and  every  insulting 
outrage,  before  the  judges;  for  these,  and  their  fero- 
cious satellites  were  insensible  to  every  sentiment  of 


POPES  OF  THE  CATACOMBS,  155 

respect  for  either  the  infirmities  of  age  or  for  virgin 
modesty.  The  prisons  were  crowded  with  holy  con- 
fessors, so  that  other  great  public  buildings  were  em- 
ployed to  receive  them. 

How  wanton  was  the  cruelty  of  the  heathens  towards 
the  martyrs,  we  learn  from  one  species  of  torture  men- 
tioned by  St.  Jerome:  "The  Christian,"  says  this 
father,  "was  first  stretched  upon  the  rack  and  burned 
with  heated  hoops  or  plates  of  iron,  he  was  then 
smeared  all  over  with  honey,  placed  with  his  hands 
bound  behind  him  in  the  burning  sun,  and  thus  left  to 
putrefy  and  expire,  exposed  to  the  annoyance  and 
stings  of  insects." 

We  must  now  retrace  our  steps  a  little,  and  refer  to 
the  last  four  popes  named  in  the  preceding  chapter. 
The  venerable  pontiff,  St.  Fabian,  was  one  of  the  first 
victims  of  this  persecution  of  Decius,  as  the  City  of 
Rome  was  the  chief  focus  of  its  violence;  for  the  empe- 
ror bent  on  the  extirpation  of  the  Christian  hierarchy  in 
general,  had  proclaimed  with  direful  imprecations  and 
blasphemies,  that  he  had  rather  tolerate  a  rival  in  the 
empire,  than  suffer  a  pope  to  reign  or  be  continued  in 
Rome, 

MARTYRDOM  OF  POPK  CORNELIUS. 

Pope  Cornelius  was  elected  in  place  of  the  martyred 
St.  Fabian.  We  may  form  some  conjecture  of  the 
apostolic  spirit  of  the  new  pontiff,  and  of  the  general 
aspect  of  the  church,  from  the  tenor  of  a  letter  or  re- 
script, written  by  St.  Cornelius  to  his  legate  in  Gaul. 
St.  lyupicinus  of  Vienne:  "Know,  dearest  brother/* 
says  the  pope,  "that  the  ark  of  God  is  most  fiercely 
assailed  by  the  tempest  of  persecution,  and  that  in  pur- 
suance of  the  edicts,  the  Christians   are   everywhere 


156  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES. 

subjected  to  various  torments;  for  it  would  seem  that 
an  emperor  has  been  appointed  to  succeed  Decius 
(slain  by  the  Goths),  and  reigns  in  the  Roman  city  for 
this  object  alone;  so  that  there  is  no  possibility  of  cel- 
ebrating Mass  publicly,  or  even  in  the  more  noted 
crypts.  Wherefore  let  all  the  faithful  of  Christ  (of  the 
Gallic  province)  be  exhorted  by  your  charity,  not  to 
dread  those  who  have  power  to  slay  the  body,  but 
rather  to  fear  Him  who  hath  power  to  destroy  both 
body  and  soul.  Already  many  have  been  crowned 
with  martyrdom.  Pray  also  that  we  may  run  the 
course  which  we  know  by  revelation  from  our  I^ord  to 
be  in  store  for  us.  Brother  in  the  Lord,  farewell;  sa- 
lute all  who  love  us  in  Christ." 

He  was  soon  after  banished  to  Centum  Celiac, 
(Civita  Vecchia)  from  whence  he  still  continued  to 
govern  the  Church;  until  a  letter  sent  him  by  St. 
Cyprian  having  been  intercepted  or  seized  by  the 
government,  he  was  ordered  up  to  Rome.  Though  it 
was  night  when  he  arrived,  he  was  immediately 
brought  into  the  presence  of  the  emperor,  Volusianus, 
who  was  attended  by  the  prefect  of  the  city,  and 
interrogated  thus: — 

"Has  thy  perversity  risen  to  that  pitch,  that  not 
content  with  making  light  of  the  gods,  thou  hast  even 
presumed  to  carry  on  correspondence  against  the 
republic,  in  defiance  of  the  laws  and  of  our  menaces?" 

Cornelius  answered,  "The  letters  which  I  received 
were  not  against  the  republic;  they  regarded  the  crown 
of  the  Lord  (martyrdom)." 

The  emperor  in  anger  ordered  him  to  be  taken  from 
his  presence,  to  have  his  mouth  beaten  with  sticks 
made  heavy  with  lead,  and  to  be  beheaded  if  he  still 
Baronius. 


POPES  OF  THE  CATACOMBS.  157 

refused  to  sacrifice.  This  sentence  was  made  absolute 
on  the  pontiff's  steady  refusal  to  do  so;  and  he  was 
accordingly  handed  over  for  execution  to  an  ofificer 
named  Cerealis. 

It  happened  that  Sallustia,  the  wife  of  Cerealis,  had 
been  bed-ridden  from  paralysis  for  fifteen  years;  where- 
upon, the  pontiff  was  no  sooner  placed  in  his  hands, 
than  this  ofi&cer  entreated  him  to  come  and  cure  his 
wife.  Cornelius  went  with  him,  accompanied  by  two 
priests  and  one  cleric,  a  reader;  and  when  he  had  come 
to  where  the  infirm  woman  lay,  the  most  holy  pope  gave 
forth  this  prayer:  "Lord  God,  Creator  of  all  things 
visible  and  invisible,  who  hast  vouchsafed  to  come  to 
us  sinners,  in  order  to  redeem  us;  do  thou  raise  up 
this  Thy  disabled  handmaid,  and  extend  to  her  that 
mercy  by  which  Thou  didst  give  sight  to  him  who  was 
born  blind,  that  she  also  may  recognize  Thy  giory;*' 
and  holding  the  hand  of  Sallustia,  he  raised  her  up, 
saying,  "In  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Nazareth, 
arise  and  stand  upon  thy  feet!"  Presently,  she  rose 
up  exclaiming,  and  crying  out,  "Truly  Christ  is  God. 
and  the  Son  of  God!"  and  then  she  said  to  Cornelius, 
"I  conjure  you,  in  the  name  of  Christ  to  baptize  me;" 
and  with  that  she  ran  and  filled  a  vase  with  water, 
and  brought  it  to  him.  At  the  sight  of  so  great  a 
miracle,  the  soldiers  also  who  were  with  Cerealis,  all 
prostrated  themselves  at  the  feet  of  Pope  Cornelius, 
trembling  and  imploring  to  be  baptized;  and,  seeing 
the  hand  of  God  in  all  this  he  baptized  them,  and 
offered  for  them  the  eucharistic  sacrifice;  and  they  all 
were  made  partakers  of  the  body  and  blood  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

The  emperor  being  informed  of  all  these  things,  sent 


•or  Ti-ii 


158  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES. 

and  had  all  apprehended,  both  those  of  the  household 
of  Cerealis  and  the  soldiers  who  embraced  the  Faith, 
and  led  out  with  the  blessed  Cornelius  that  they  might 
be  constrained  to  offer  sacrifice.  They  were  brought 
outside  the  walls  by  the  Appian  gate  to  the  temple  of 
Mars;  but  instead  of  sacrificing,  they  spat  in  derision 
at  the  temple,  and  were  all  beheaded  with  the  most 
blessed  pope,  to  the  number  of  one  and  twenty,  and 
with  them  Cerealis  also  with  his  wife  Sallustia,  on  the 
1 8th.  of  the  calends  of  October.  But  that  same  night 
the  blessed  Lucina,  with  some  clerics  and  her  own  do- 
mestics came  and  stole  away  the  bodies  of  the  martyrs, 
and  buried  them  in  her  own  grounds,  in  a  crypt  near 
the  cemetery  of  Callixtus. 

Pope  Cornelius  was  immediately  succeeded  by 
lyucius,  one  of  the  priests  who  had  accompanied  him  in 
his  exile.  He  also  was  beheaded  in  less  than  two  years; 
on  the  4th.  of  the  nones  of  March,  and  when  hasten- 
ing to  his  martyrdom  says  the  Liber  Pontificalis,  "he 
confided  the  administration  of  the  Church  to  his  arch 
deacon  Stephen,  by  whom  he  was  succeeded  in  the 
pontificate  after  an  interval  of  thirty-four  days,  April 
9th.  A.   D.   257. 

MARTYRDOM  OF    POPK  STEPHBN. 

Valerius  and  Acilius  being  consuls,  Hippolytus,  a 
citizen  of  Rome,  and  a  Christian,  passed  a  solitary  life 
in  the  crypts;  to  whom  many  Gentiles  resorting  for 
apostolic  instruction,  were  converted  to  Christ  and 
baptized.  This  same  Hippolytus  came  frequently  to 
the  feet  of  Pope  Stephen,  to  entreat  baptism  for  his 
catechumens,  whom  he  brought  with  him;  and  so 
great  was  the  number  thus  brought  over  to  Christian- 
ity, that  the  proceedings  of  Hippolytus  were  made 
Baronius. 


POPES  OF  THE  CATACOMBS.  159 

known  by  the  informers  {delatores)  to  Maximus,  the 
city  prefect,  and  by  him  reported  to  the  emperors.  On 
hearing  thii»  Hippolytus  went  immediately  to  tell  Pope 
Stephen.  Whereupon  the  blessed  Stephen  called 
around  him  the  Christian  multitude,  and  began  by 
holy  exhortations  and  by  lore  of  holy  writ,  to  imbue 
their  minds  with  sentiments  of  pious  confidence; 
amongst  other  things  he  j^poke  the  following:  — 

"My  beloved  children,  listen  tome  a  sinner.  While 
there  is  yet  time  let  us  be  instant  in  good  works,  and 
that  not  only  to  our  neighbours,  but  to  ourselves;  and 
in  the  first  place  let  me  admonish  each  one  to  take  up 
his  cross  and  follow  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  has 
vouchsafed  to  say  to  us,  'Who  loves  his  life  shall  lose 
it;  but  who  loses  his  life  for  my  sake,  shall  find  it  in 
eternity.'  Wherefore,  I  beseech  you  all,  to  be  most 
solicitous,  not  only  for  your  own,  but  for  your  neigh- 
bour's salvation;  so  that  if  any  among  you  have 
friends  or  relations  still  in  heathenism,  let  him  hasten 
to  conduct  them  hither  to  receive  baptism  at  our 
hands." 

Then  Hippolytus  cast  himself  at  the  feet  of  the 
blessed  pontiflF  Stephen,  saying,  "Good  father,  may  it 
please  you,  there  are  my  nephew  and  his  sister,  both 
Gentiles,  whom  I  have  reared  myself;  a  little  boy 
about  ten  years  of  age,  more  or  less,  and  a  girl  of  thir- 
teen; their  mother,  a  Gentile,  is  called  Paulina;  their 
father,  who  sends  them  both  to  me  from  time  to  time, 
is  named  Adrias."  Then  the  blessed  Stephen  exhorted 
him  to  detain  the  children  when  next  sent,  that  there- 
by the  parents  also  might  be  brought  to  visit  him. 

After  two  days  the  above  mentioned  children  came 
to  Hippolytus,  bringing  certain  cakes  of  bread;  who» 


160  THE  FIRST  THREE   CENTURIES,     ' 

detaining  them,  sent  word  to  the  blessed  Stephen,  who, 
coming  embraced  the  little  ones,  and  cherished  them. 
Full  of  solicitude  about  their  children,  the  parents 
came  in  haste  to  seek  them.  Then  Stephen  addressed 
them  on  the  terrors  of  the  future  and  tremendous  judg- 
ment, earnestly  exhorting  them  to  abandon  the  idols, 
as  did  Hippolytus,  also.  To  whom  Adrias,  the  father 
of  the  children  said,  that  he  dreaded  being  despoiled 
of  his  property,  and  put  to  death,  the  lot  prepared  for 
all  who  professed  themselves  Christians.  Paulina,  sis- 
ter of  Hippolytus,  said  the  same,  inveighing  against 
him  for  urging  such  a  course;  for  she  detested  the  re- 
ligion of  the  Christians;  and  so  they  departed,  leaving 
those  in  the  crypts,  who  had  exhorted  them  without 
success,  but  not  without  hope. 

Then  the  blessed  Stephen,  calling  the  learned  priest 
Eusebius,  and  Marcellus,  a  deacon,  sent  them  to 
Adrias  and  Paulina,  to  invite  them  again  to  the 
catacomb,  where  Hippolytus  abode;  and  when  they 
were  come,  Eusebius  said  to  them,  * 'Christ  expects 
you,  that  he  may  introduce  you  into  the  kingdom  of 
heaven."  And  when  Paulina  began  to  insist  on  the 
glory  of  the  world,  and  the  miserable  lot  of  the  Chris- 
tians, he  portrayed  to  them  the  ineffable  glories  of 
heaven,  which  they  could  not  attain  except  through 
the  faith,  and  being  baptized.  Paulina  declined 
to  decide  till  the  next  day.  The  same  night, 
there  came  a  Christian  father  and  mother,  with  their 
son,  who  was  a  paralytic,  to  Eusebius  in  the  catacomb, 
to  have  him  baptized;  who,  praying  over  him,  baptized 
hi  en;  whereupon  he  was  cured,  and  his  tongue  having 
been  loosed  he  gave  praise  to  God.  Then  Eusebius 
offered  sacrifice,  and  all  participated  in  the  body  and 


POPES  OF  THE   CATACOMBS,  161 

blood  of  Christ;  which  when  Stephen  the  bishop  heard, 
he  came,  and  they  rejoiced  together. 

But  when  it  was  morning  Adrias  and  Paulina  re- 
turned, and  on  hearing  of  the  cure  of  the  boy,  being 
filled  with  admiration,  they  prostrated  themselves  with 
great  contrition,  praying  of  the  pontiff  to  be  baptized. 
Seeing  this  Hippolytus,  giving  thanks  to  God,  said 
to  the  blessed  Stephen,  "Holy  Father,  do  not  defer 
their  baptism."  The  blessed  Stephen  said,  ''Let  the 
solemnities  be  completed,  and  put  to  them  the  prescrib- 
ed questions,  that  it  may  be  seen  if  they  truly  believe 
and  have  no  longer  any  trepidation  of  heart."  After 
the  interrogations  he  enjoined  them  a  fast,  and  having 
instructed  all  the  catechumens,  he  baptized  them  in  the 
name  of  the  Trinity;  and  placing  the  sign  of  the  cross, 
he  called  the  boy  Neone,  the  girl  Mary;  and  he  offered 
sacrifice  for  them.  And  when  all  had  communicated, 
the  blessed  Stephen  departed  thence.  Then  the  newly 
baptized  began  to  dwell  with  Hippolytus,  pusebius 
and  Marcellus  in  the  catacombs;  but  their  property 
which  they  had  in  the  city,  they  distributed  among 
the  poor. 

Soon  as  this  transaction  came  to  the  ears  of 
the  emperors,  orders  were  issued  to  seek  out 
the  converts,  and  a  reward  of  half  their  property  was 
offered  to  whoever  should  detect  them.  It  was  then 
that  one  Maximus,  a  writer  in  one  of  the  government 
offices,  had  recourse  to  this  device  to  find  them  out. 
He  feigned  himself  a  Christian  who  begged  alms,  and 
coming  to  a  place  called  Area  Carbonaria  on  the 
Coelian  Mount,  remained  there  begging  till  he  saw 
Adrias  passing  by;  to  whom  he  thus  addressed  himself, 
in  order  to  get  proof  of  his  being  a  Christian,  "Through 


162  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES. 

Christ  whom  I  believe,  I  beseech  you  to  take  pity  on 
my  distress."  Then  Adrias,  taking  pity  on  him, 
bade  him  follow.  But  when  they  were  entering  the 
house,  Maximus  was  seized  by  a  demon,  and  cried  out: 
''Men  of  God!  I  am  an  informer.  I  see  above  me  a 
dense  fire;  pray  for  me,  for  I  am  tortured  by  the 
flames."  Afterwards,  when  they  had  supplicated  for 
him  with  tears,  and  falling  prostrate  on  the  ground, 
he  was  cured;  and  when  they  lifted  him  up,  he  began 
to  exclaim:  'Terish  the  worshippers  of  idols;  I 
petition  to  be  baptized."  They  led  him  to  the  blessed 
Stephen,  who  having  instructed,  at  length  baptized 
him;  and  he  prayed  to  remain  some  days. 

Search  was  made  for  Maximus  on  his  non-appear- 
ance, and  the  rumor  of  what  he  had  done,  and  his 
house  having  been  visited  by  some  of  his  fellow-clerks 
sent  from  the  same  department,  they  found  him 
prostrate  in  prayer;  and,  laying  hold  of  him,  they 
brought  him  before  Valerian  who  said,  "Hast  thou 
been  so  blinded  by  bribes  as  to  deceive  me  by  false 
promises?"  "True,"  replied  Maximus,  "hitherto  I 
have  been  blind,  but  now,  being  illuminated,  I  see." 
"In  what  light?"  said  the  emperor.  "In  the  faith  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  replied  Maximus.  Then 
Valerian,  in  a  rage,  ordered  him  to  be  precipitated 
from  one  of  the  bridges  of  the  Tiber.  His  body  was 
afterwards  interred  by  Eusebius,  in  the  cemetery  of 
Callistus,  on  the  Appian  Way,  13th.  of  the  calends  of 
February.  "His  tomb,"  says  Cardinal  Baronius, 
''remains  to  this  day,  marked  with  the  inscription, 
Locus  Maximi,  A.  D.  259."  After  this.  Valerian  sent 
a  body  of  seventy  soldiers,  with  orders  to  use  every 
diligence  till  they  found  Eusebius  and  the  others;  and 


POPES  OF  THE  CATACOMBS,  163 

when  the  holy  priest,  with  Adrias,  Hippolytus, 
Paulina,  and  the  children  having  been  discovered,  was 
led  to  the  forum  of  Trajan,  in  bonds,  the  deacon, 
Marcellus,  gave  vent  to  complaints  against  the 
emperor  for  his  cruelties  to  the  friends  of  truth,  and 
being  denounced  for  this,  by  Secundinus  Togatus,  he 
also  was  seized. 

Eusebius  the  priest,  was  the  first  interrogated  by  the 
judges.  "Are  you  the  disturber  of  the  city? — But 
first  what  is  your  name  ?"  "I  am  called  Eusebius, 
and  a  priest.  Then  the  judge  ordered  him  to  be  set 
aside,  and  Adrias  to  be  brought  in;  who,  being  first  in- 
terrogated as  to  his  name,  and  then  as  to  how  he  came 
by  the  abundance  of  wealth  and  affluence  with  which 
he  seduced  the  people,  replied:  "In  the  name  of  my 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  I  inherit  it  from  the  industry  of  my 
parents."  "Therefore,  make  use  of  your  inheritance, 
and  waste  it  not  in  subverting  others."  "I  do  expend 
it  truly,  and  without  deception  for  the  advantage  of 
myself  and  my  children."  The  judge  said,  "Hast 
thou  children  and  a  wife?"  He  replied,  "They  are 
here  with  me  in  chains."  "Let  them  be  brought  in," 
said  the  judge. 

Then  Paulina  with  her  children,  Neone  and  Mary, 
was  brought  within  the  veil,  followed  by  Marcellus,  the 
deacon,  and  Hippolytus,  when  the  Judge  said  "Is  this 
your  wife?"  "and  are  these  your  children  ?"  "They 
are,  said  Adrias.  "And  who  are  those  other  two?** 
"That  is  blessed  Marcellus  the  deacon;  this  is  my 
brother  Hippolytus,  a  singular  servant  of  Christ." 
Turning  to  them  the  Judge  said,  "Declare  with  your 
own  mouths  by  what  names  you  are  called."  Mar- 
cellus said,    "I  am  called    Marcellus    the    deacon." 


164  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES. 

'*You,"  said  he  to  Hippolytus,  ''what  is  your  name  ?'* 
*'Hippolytus,  servant  of  the  servants  of  Christ." 

The  judges  then  ordered  Paulina  and  her  children  to 
be  taken  aside,  and  said  to  Adrias,  "Tell  where  your 
treasures  are,  and  you,  and  those  who  have  been  led 
in  with  you,  oifer  sacrifice  to  the  gods,  and  save  your 
lives;  which  otherwise  you  shall  speedily  relinquish." 
"We,"  replied  Hippolytus,  "have  already  cast  away 
vain  idols,  and  have  found  the  Lord  of  heaven  and 
earth,  Christ  the  Son  of  God,  whom  we  believe." 
Then  the  judges  ordered  all  to  be  committed  to  the 
public  prison,  and  not  to  be  separated.  And  they  were 
led  to  the  Mamertine  Keep. 

After  three  days,  the  prefect,  assisted  by  Probus, 
held  his  court  in  the  Tellude,  where  he  had  ordered 
instruments  of  torture  of  all  descriptions  to  be  kept  in 
readiness.  Adrias  was  brought  in  first,  and  interro- 
gated about  his  property.  When  nothing  satisfactory 
was  elicited,  the  altar  was  ordered  to  be  lighted  up  be- 
fore the  goddess  Minerva,  and  they  were  ordered  to 
offer  incense.  But  all  rejecting  the  proposal  with 
horror,  laughed  at  the  judge  for  asking  them.  They 
were  then  ordered  to  be  stripped,  and,  being  then  ex- 
tended on  the  rack,  were  beaten  with  sticks.  Then 
the  blessed  Paulina,  being  very  severely  beaten  resign- 
ed her  soul  to  God.  Seeing  this,  the  judge  ordered 
Eusebius  and  Marcellus  to  be  beheaded.  The  sentence 
was  executed  at  the  Petra  Scelerata,  near  the  amphi- 
theatre, on  the  13th.  of  the  calends  of  November. 
Their  bodies  were  left  for  the  dogs;  that  of  St.  Paulina 
was  cast  out  of  the  court  on  the  pavement;  and  all 
three  were  collected  by  another  Hippolytus,  a  deacon, 
and  buried  near  the  Via  Appia,  in  the  crypt  where 
they  had  so  often  met. 


POPES  OF  THE  CATACOMBS.  166 

Secundinus  after  this,  brought  Adrias  and  his  child- 
ren with  Hippolytus  home  to  his  own  house,  leaving 
nothing  untried  to  discover  the  money,  but  their  ans- 
wer was,  "What  we  had  we  expended  on  the  poor; 
our  treasures  are  our  souls,  which  we  can  on  no  ac- 
count afford  to  lose;  obey  your  commission."  Then 
Secundinus  had  the  children  tortured ;  to  whom  their 
father  said:  ''Be  constant  my  children;"  who  while 
they  were  under  the  strokes  said  nothing  but  "Christ 
assist  us!" 

After  this  he  commanded  Adrias  and  Hippolytus  to 
be  submitted  to  torments,  directing  their  sides  to  be 
burned  with  torches;  and  when  they  had  been  tor- 
tured in  various  ways,  and  could  in  no  wise  be  induced 
to  sacrifice,  or  even  to  say  that  they  consented  to  it, 
Secundinus  said,  "Quickly  lift  the  children,  Neone 
and  Mary,  from  the  ground,  and  carrying  them  to  the 
Petra  Scelerata,  slay  them  before  their  father's  eyes.*' 
When  this  had  been  done,  their  bodies  were  flung  on 
the  public  place,  where  they  were  collected  by  the 
faithful,  and  interred  in  the  same  catacomb,  near  the 
Via  Appia,  with  their  mother,  on  the  6th  of  the  kal- 
ends of  November. 

When  Secundinus  had  reported  all  to  Valerian,  after 
eight  days  he  directed  his  tribunal  to  be  prepared  in 
the  Circus  Flaminius;  and  Hippolytus  and  Adrias 
bound  in  chains,  to  be  brought  with  a  herald,  crying 
out  before  them,  "These  are  the  nefarious  wretches — 
the  nefarious  wretches  who  overthrow  the  city;"  and* 
when  placed,  the  judge  began  again  about  the  money, 
saying,  "Give  up  the  money  by  which  you  used  to 
lead  the  people  into  error."  "We  preach  Christ,"  re- 
plied Adrias,  "who  deigned  to  liberate  us  from  error, 

Baromus. 


166  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES. 

not  for  the  destruction  of  men,  but  that  they  may  have 
life.''  When  Secundinus  Togatus  saw  his  words 
availed  nothing,  he  directed  their  jaws  to  be  beaten  for 
a  long  time  with  loaded  sticks  while  the  crier  made 
proclamation  to  them:  "Sacrifice  to  the  gods,  by  burn- 
ing incense!"  for  he  had  ordered  a  lighted  tripod  to  be 
placed  there  for  the  purpose.  Hippolytus  streaming 
with  blood,  cried  out:  "Execute  your  office,  unhappy 
man,  and  cease  not."  Then  Secundinus  ordered  the 
executioners  to  cease  beating  them,  and  said,  "Now  at 
length,  consult  for  yourselves:  see  how  I  have  compas- 
sion on  your  infatuation."  They  answered,  "We  are 
ready  to  sustain  all  torments,  but  not  to  do  what  you 
or  the  emperor  wants  of  us."  Secundinus  reported  to 
Valerian,  who  ordered  them  to  be  forthwith  destroyed 
in  the  presence  of  the  people. 

Accordingly  Secundinus  commanded  them  to  be 
brought  to  the  bridge  of  Antonine,  and  to  be  beaten  to 
death;  where,  after  suffering  for  a  long  time,  they  gave 
up  the  ghost,  and  their  bodies  were  left  in  the  same 
place,  near  the  island  I^ycaonia.  Hippolytus,  a  deacon 
of  the  Roman  Church  came  by  night,  and  removed 
them  to  the  same  crypt,  near  the  Appian  way  where 
the  bodies  of  the  other  saints  had  been  placed,  on  the 
5th  of  the  ides  of  December. 

Nine  months  after,  a  Grecian  matron  named  Marta 
and  her  daughter,  came  to  Rome  to  visit  Adrias  and 
Paulina,  who  were  their  kinsfolk;  and  when  they  had 
nought  them  and  could  not  find  them,  hearing  that 
they  had  been  crowned  with  martyrdom,  they  rejoiced 
exceedingly.  And  inquiring  where  their  bodies  were, 
when  they  had  found  them,  they  took  up  their  abode 
in  that  crypt;  passing  their  nights  and  days  in   holy 


POPES  OF  THE  CATACOMBS.  167 

vigils  and  prayers;  until  after  thirteen  yeais,  they 
yielded  up  their  souls  in  peace,  and  were  there  in- 
terred. 

But  these  were  only  the  preludes  to  the  pope's  mar- 
tyrdom. When  the  edict  was  published,  the  blessed 
Stephen,  having  assembled  all  the  clergy,  thus  ad- 
dressed them: 

*' Brethren  and  fellow  soldiers,  you  have  heard  of  the 
cruel  and  diabolical  mandates  that  have  been  issued; 
that  if  any  Gentile  deliver  up  a  Christian,  he  shall  re- 
ceive his  entire  property.  Do  you,  therefore,  brethren, 
reject  the  goods  of  this  world  with  contempt,  that  you 
may  receive  a  celestial  kingdom;  fear  not  the  princes 
of  this  world,  but  pray  to  the  Lord  God  of  heaven  and 
to  Jesus  Christ  His  Son,  who  can  rescue  us  from  the 
hands  of  our  enemies  and  from  the  malice  of  Satan,  to 
associate  us  to  his  grace." 

Then  the  presbyter  Bonus  answering,  said,  "Not 
only  are  we  prepared  to  relinquish  earthly  possessions, 
but  even  to  pour  out  our  blood  for  the  name  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  so  that  we  may  merit  to  obtain  his 
grace."  And  having  spoken  thus,  all  the  clergy  pros- 
trated themselves  at  the  feet  of  Blessed  Stephen,  and 
told  him  that  there  were  some  Gentile  children  and 
others  of  their  neighbours  not  yet  baptized,  whom  they 
prayed  permission  to  bring,  wherefore  he  directed  that 
all  should  assemble  the  day  after,  in  the  crypt  of 
Nepotiana. 

When  the  next  day  came,  there  were  found  assem- 
bled catechumens  of  both  sexes,  to  the  number  of  one 
hundred  and  eight,  all  of  whom  the  same  Pope  Stephen 
baptized,  and  offered  for  them  sacrifice,  of  which  all 
partook.     While  the  pontiff  held  bis  station  in  this 


168  THE  FIRST  THREE   CENTURIES. 

catacomb,  arranging  the  affairs  of  the  church,  teach- 
ing, exhorting,  holding  councils  and  celebrating  Mass 
through  the  crypts  of  the  martyrs,  multitudes  of  the 
Gentiles  resorted  to  him  to  be  instructed  and  baptized. 

The  servant  of  one  of  these,  Sempronius.  had  been 
seized  and  tried  in  every  way  to  wring  from  him  where 
he  had  disposed  of  his  master's  riches;  and  amongst 
other  things,  when  the  idol  of  Mars  with  a  tripod  was 
placed  before  him  that  he  might  sacrifice,  he  said, 
''May  the  Ivord  Jesus  Christ,  son  of  the  living  God, 
destroy  thee!"  and  forthwith  the  idol  melted.  Amazed 
at  this,  Olympius,  the  officer  charged  with  his  execu- 
tion, ordered  him  to  be  brought  to  his  own  dwelling, 
threatening  to  exhaust  all  species  of  torments  on  him 
that  very  night. 

On  coming  home,  he  told  his  wife,  Exuperia,  how 
the  idol  had  melted  at  the  name  of  Christ.  "If  then," 
said  she,  "so  great  be  the  virtue  of  that  name  as  thou 
narratest,  it  is  better  for  us  to  abandon  gods  who  can- 
not defend  either  us  or  themselves,  and  seek  Him  who 
gave  sight  to  the  daughter  of  Nemesius."  Olympius 
then  told  his  domestic,  Tertullian,  to  treat  Sempronius 
with  honor,  and  try  to  discover  where  were  the  treasures 
of  Nemesius,  his  master.  But  that  same  night,  he,  with 
with  his  wife  Exuperia,  along  with  their  son,  came  to 
Sempronius  and  falling  at  his  feet,  said,  "We  recog- 
nize the  power  of  Christ;  we  seek  to  be  baptized  by 
thee."  Sempronius  said  to  Olympius,  "If  you  do 
penance,  with  your  wife  and  son,  all  shall  be  adminis- 
tered to  you  in  due  season."  "Thou  shalt  have  proof 
even  now,"  said  Olympius,  "that  from  my  whole  heart 
I  believe  in  the  Lord,  whom  thou  preachest,"  and  so 
saying  he  opened  his  chamber,  where  he  had  a  lalarium, 


POPES  OF  THE  CATACOMBS,  169 

and  in  it  idols  of  gold,  and  of  silver,  and  of  marble, 
and  told  Sempronius  that  he  was  ready  to  do  with  them 
whatsoever  he  should  direct.  "Then,"  said  Sempro- 
nius, "destroy  them,  everyone,  with  your  own  hands. 
The  gold  and  silver  ones  melt  dcwn  with  fire,  and  dis- 
tribute among  the  poor;  and  then  I  shall  know  that 
thou  believest  in  thy  whole  heart."  When  Olympius 
had  done  so,  a  voice  was  heard  saying,  "Let  my 
spirit  rest  in  thee  "  On  hearing  this.  Olympius  and 
his  wife  began  to  be  strengthened  more  and  more,  and 
to  glow  with  fervent  longing  to  be  baptized. 

Sempronius  communicated  these  things  to  Xeme- 
sius,  now  at  liberty,  who  went  in  haste  to  inform 
blessed  Stephen,  who  returned  thanks  to  God  Al- 
mighty, and  went  in  the  night  to  the  house  of  Olym- 
pius, who  fell  at  his  feet  with  his  wife  and  son,  en- 
treating to  be  baptized,  pointing  to  the  fragments  of 
the  idols  in  token  of  his  sincerity.  Seeing  this  Blessed 
Stephen  gave  thanks  to  God,  and  catechized  them  in 
ecclesiastical  tradition.  He  then  baptized  them,  and 
,  of  their  household  as  many  as  believed,  with  their  son, 
whom  he  called  Theodulus,  and  offered  sacrifice  for 
their  redemption.  After  the  third  day,  this  news  was 
brought  to  Valerian  and  Gallienus,  who  forthwith  or- 
dered Nemesius  and  his  daughter  Lucilla,  who  had  got 
her  sight,  to  be  slain  at  the  temple  of  Mars  on  the  Via 
Appia,  while  Sempronius,  Olympius,  Exuperia,  and 
Theodulus,  were  burned  to  death  near  the  amphithe- 
atre. They  expired  singing  the  praises  of  Christ,  who 
had  vouchsafed  to  associate  them  with  his  martyrs, 
and  their  remains  having  been  collected  by  the  clergy 
were  consigned  to  the  tomb  by  blessed  Stephen,  with 
the  accustomed  hymns. 


170  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES. 

After  many  days  special  edicts  were  issned  by  Vale- 
rian and  Gallienus  for  the  apprehension  and  punish- 
ment of  Stephen  and  the  clerg}-  of  the  Roman  Church; 
twelve  of  the  latter  were  immediately  seized,  and  with- 
out any  hearing  put  to  death.  Among  them  was  that 
venerable  priest  named  Bonus,  or  the  good,  who  had 
made  that  glorious  declaration  when  the  clergy  were 
addressed  in  the  catacombs  by  Pope  Stephen.  Their 
bodies  were  collected  and  laid  near  those  of  two  other 
holy  martyrs  in  a  crypt  near  the  Via  Latina  by  Tertul- 
lian,  freedman  of  Olympius.  On  learning  this,  the 
blessed  Stephen  sent  for  Tertullian,  and  having  in- 
structed him  regarding  the  kingdom  of  God  and  life 
eternal,  baptized  him  and  gave  him  in  charge,  while 
yet  in  his  white  robes  to  a  priest,  who  specially  en- 
joined him  to  seek  out  the  holy  bodies  of  the  martyrs. 
After  two  days  he  was  taken  and  brought  before  Va- 
lerian, where  he  was  interrogated  as  to  the  property 
of  Olympius,  and  having  answered  and  sustained  every 
species  of  torture  with  heroic  constancy  he  was  finally 
beheaded  at  the  second  mile  stone  on  the  Via  I^atina. 
His  remains  were  collected  by  the  blessed  Stephen  and 
interred  in  the  same  crypt. 

Next  day  soldiers  were  sent  to  seize  Pope  Stephen 
and  the  clergy  who  were  with  him,  and  when  they  had 
led  him  into  the  presence  of  Valerian,  the  emperor 
said:  "It  is  you  who  are  endeavoring  to  overthrow 
the  Republic,  and  by  your  persuasion  to  induce  the 
people  to  abandon  the  worship  of  the  gods."  To 
whom  Stephen  replied:  "I,  indeed,  do  not  overturn 
the  Republic;  but  the  people  I  admonish  and  exhort, 
that  forsaking  demons,  whom  they  worship  in  their 
idols,  they  would  pay  homage  to  the  true  God,  and 
Baronhis. 


POPES  OF  THE  CATACOMBS,  171 

Jesus  Christ,  whom  He  hath  sent."  Then  Valerian 
commanded  him  to  be  led  to  the  temple  of  Mars,  where 
his  sentence  was  to  be  read  from  the  tablets. 

Then  blessed  Stephen  having  been  led  out  of  the 
city,  on  the  Via  Appia,  when  he  had  come  to  the  tem- 
ple of  Mars,  he  said  lifting  his  e5'es  to  heaven,  "Lord 
God,  and  Father,  who  didst  destroy  the  tower  of  con- 
fusion at  Babel,  destroy  this  place  in  which  the  devil 
deludes  the  people  by  superstition."  It  then  began  to 
thunder,  and  lightning  in  flashes  struck  the  temple, 
which  fell  in  part;  and  the  soldiers  having  fled,  Ste- 
phen, who  remained  alone,  went  with  his  attendant 
priests  and  deacon  to  the  neighbouring  cemetery  of 
lyUcina,  where  he  encouraged  the  Christians  by  many 
exhortations.  After  this  he  offered  sacrifice  to  the 
omnipotent  God.  The  soldiers  who  were  sent  in  pur- 
suit, found  him  in  tLe  act  of  celebrating  the  holy  3ac- 
rifice  of  the  Mass;  but  wiihout  being  terrified,  he  con- 
tinued intrepidly  to  pursue  the  mysteries  which  he 
had  commenced,  until  they  struck  off  his  head,  as  he 
sat  in  the  pontifical  chair  before  the  altar,  on  the  4th, 
of  the  nones  of  August.  Great  was  the  lamentation 
made  by  the  Christians,  at  being  deprived  of  so  great  a 
pastor  and  they  interred  his  body  with  the  chair 
drenched  with  his  blood,  in  the  same  crypt,  in  the 
place  called  the  cemetery  of  Callixtus,  A.  D.  260,  ac- 
cording to  Baronius. 

St.  Stephen  was  succeeded  by  Pope  Sixtus  who 
suffered  martyrdom  in  the  catacombs,  on  the  8lh.  of 
the  ides  of  August,  A.  D.  261;  so  St.  Cyprian  tells  us. 

MARTYRDOM  OF  POPE  CAIUS. 

The  end  of  Emperor  Valerian,  who,  after  l)eing  con- 
quered by  Sapor,  king  of  Persia,  and  made  a  footstool 


172  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES. 

of,  was  skinned  alive,  produced  such  an  effect  on  his 
son  and  colleague,  Gallienus,  that  he  recalled  the  edicts 
of  persecution.  The  bark  of  Peter  was  steered  by 
Pope  Dionysius  during  the  interval  of  tranquility,  in 
which  Christian  blood  however,  did  not  cease  to  be 
shed  in  Rome,  where  the  existing  laws  were  never  per- 
mitted to  slumber,  by  the  avarice  of  the  city  prefects, 
and  the  bigotry  of  the  pagan  priests. 

But  even  this  partial  lull  of  the  tempest  only  caused 
it  to  break  out  with  greater  violence  under  Aurelian, 
when  the  succeeding  Pope  Felix  suffered  martyrdom, 
and  with  him  thousands  of  others,  according  to  St.  Leo 
the  Great. 

The  successor  of  Pope  Felix  was  St.  Eutychius  who 
with  his  own  hands  buried  no  less  than  three  hundred 
and  forty- two  martyrs,  and  afterwards  suffered  mar- 
tyrdom himself. 

In  the  times  of  the  next  pontiff,  Pope  Caius,  a  new 
stratagem  was  resorted  to,  from  which  there  appeared 
no  possibility  of  escape.  In  every  market-place  and 
mart  of  traffic,  or  for  provisions,  small  idols  were 
set  up,  and  no  one  was  permitted  to  buy  or  sell  with- 
out previously  burning  some  grains  of  incense  on  the 
altars  set  before  them;  the  same  was  insisted  on  at  the 
mills  before  getting  corn  ground;  nor  was  anyone  per- 
mitted to  approach  the  fountains  for  water  without  a 
similar  act  of  idolatry. 

Therefore  say  the  same  Acts,  by  counsel  of  the  pon- 
tiff Caius,  the  recent  converts  were  all  received  into 
his  palace  by  the  illustrious  nobleman.  Chromatins,  and 
treated  with  the  greatest  kindness,  so  that  none  of 
them  were  exposed  to  the  danger  of  being  forced  to  sac- 
rifice.   But  as  it  was  impossible  that  tlie  conversion  of 


POPES  OF  THE  CATACOMBS.  173 

one  so  illustrious  could  be  long  kept  private,  during  the 
rage  of  the  persecution  (when  the  cupidity  of  inform- 
ers was  excited  by  immense  rewards),  Chromatins  by 
his  influence  got  a  rescript  authorizing  him  to  visit  his 
estates  in   Campania,  on   the  plea  of   recovering   his 
health,  and   he  invited  all  the  Christians  who  wished 
it,  to  accompany  him  thither,  in  order  to  escape  the 
fury  of  the  times.     There  then  arose  a  pious  alterca- 
tion  between   St.    Polycarp   and   St.  Sebastion,  both 
eagerly  claiming   to  remain   in  the   post  of   danger, 
whereas,  it  was  necessary  for  one  of  them   to  accom- 
pany Chromatins.    To  whom  the  venerable  Pope  Caius 
said,  *'By  your  both  contending  for  the  crown  of  mar- 
tyrdom, you  expose  the  people  to  be  left  destitute  of 
consolation.     Wherefore,   I  think   it  expedient,   that 
thou,  Brother  Polycarp,  long  experienced  in  the  duties 
of  the  priesthood,  and  filled  with  the  gifts  of  theologi- 
cal .science,  do  set  out  with  the  converts,  in  order  to 
fortify  their  minds  still  recent  and  tender  in  the  faith, 
and  to  remove  the  difficulties  and  scruples  of  the  du- 
bious."    On  hearing  these  words,  the   priest   acqui- 
e.sced,  and  bowed  with  serenity  to  the  bland  orders  of 
the  pope. 

The  Lord's  day  being  therefore  arrived,  when  the 
pontiff  Caius  was  celebrating  the  divine  mysteries  in 
the  palace  of  Chromatins,  where  he  had  directed  the 
Christians  to  assemble,  he  addressed  them  all  in  words 
like  these  :  "Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  forestalling  the 
weakness  of  human  nature,  constituted  two  grades  of 
believers,  to  wit,  confe.s.Hors  and  martyrs;  that  such  as 
find  themselves  iiot  equal  to  the  full  weight  of  the  en' 
counter,  may  hold  to  the  grace  of  confession,  cheering 
on  the  bold  champions  of  Christ,    as  they   enter   the 


174  THE  FIRST  THREE   CENTURIES. 

lists  for  the  honor  of  His  name  and  by  every  means  in. 
their  power,  taking  care  of,  and  assisting  them  with 
solicitude.  Let  as  many,  therefore,  as  are  inclined, 
take  their  departure  with  our  sons  Chromatins  and 
Tiburtius,  and  let  the  rest  who  prefer  to  remain  with 
me  in  this  city,  remain;  for  no  space  of  earth  can  sep- 
arate us,  whom  the  grace  of  Christ  has  united;  nor 
shall  our  eyes  be  sensible  of  your  absence,  who  shal 
be  always  present  to  our  affections." 

As  Pope  Caius  was  speaking  to  this  effect,  Tibur- 
tius, who  was  the  son  of  Chromatins,  a  youth  comely 
in  person,  but  still  more  comely  in  mind,  and  but  re- 
cently a  Christian  like  his  father,  began  to  cry  out 
with  a  loud  voice,  **I  beseech  thee,  father,  and  bishop 
of  bishops,  constrain  me  not  to  turn  my  back  upon  the 
persecutors;  for  it  is  to  me  very  delightful  to  suffer  a 
thousand  deaths,  if  it  were  possible,  for  the  true  God; 
provided  only,  that  I  may  thereby  attain  to  the  dig- 
nity of  that  life,  of  which  no  successor  can  deprive  me, 
and  which  no  duration  can  bring  to  an  end." 

Then  St.  Caius  shed  tears  of  joy  at  this  glorious 
outburst  of  faith,  and  prayed  that  all  who  had  re- 
mained with  him  might  be  victorious  in  the  contest, 
and  bear  away  the  crown  of  martyrdom.  There  were 
of  the  neophytes  who  chose  to  remain,  Marcellianus 
and  Marcus,  with  their  father,  Trauquillinus,  a  man 
of  rank.  Also  the  blessed  Sebastian,  and  Tiburtius, 
Nicostratus,  a  head  secretary,  with  his  brother  Casto- 
rius,  whose  wife  Zoe  remained  with  him;  Claudius, 
also,  with  his  brother  Victorinus,  and  his  son,  Sympho- 
rianus,  who  had  been  freed  from  the  dropsy;  but  all 
the  others  retired  with  Chromatins  to  his  estates. 
Marcus  and  Marcellianus  were  immediately  ordained 
BaronUis. 


POPES  OF  THE  CATACOMBS,  175 

deacons  by  the  Pontiff  Caius;  their  father  Tranquil- 
linus  he  ordained  priest,  and  the  blessed  Sebastian, 
whom  the  profession  of  arms  enabled  to  be  at  large 
without  being  suspected  to  the  great  adv^antage  of  the 
faithful,  he  appointed  defender  of  the  church;  the  rest 
he  ordained  sub-deacons. 

But  as  no  safe  place  of  refuge  could  be  found  for 
them,  they  all  lay  concealed  with  Castulus,  a  Chris- 
tian chamberlain  of  the  imperial  palace,  who  lived  in 
one  of  the  top  stories.  This  retreat  appeared  secure; 
first,  because  the  chamberlain  and  his  household  were 
^11  most  zealous  Christians;  and  secondly,  because 
while  the  law  regarding  the  sacrifices  in  the  market 
places,  and  at  the  mills  and  the  fountains,  was  enforced 
with  extreme  rigor  everywhere  else,  it  was  not  minded 
within  the  precincts  of  the  palace,  where  no  one  imag- 
ined there  could  be  any  Christians.  All,  therefore,  as 
we  said,  abode  with  holy  Pope  Caius  in  the  apartments 
of  Castulus,  and  were  occupied  day  and  night  with 
sighs  and  tears  in  prayer  and  fasting,  entreating  the 
Lord  that  they  might  be  held  deserving  to  suffer  for 
his  Confession,  and  be  admitted  into  the  number  of 
holy  martyrs.  But  there  came  up  to  them  by  stealth 
religious  men  and  women  to  entreat  from  those  saints 
various  graces  of  cures;  for,  through  their  intercession 
the  eyes  of  the  blind  were  illuminated,  health  was  re- 
stored to  the  sick,  and  demons  expelled  from  the  bod- 
ies of  the  possessed. 

Meanwhile,  it  happened,  matters  being  thus  that  as 
the  blessed  Tiburtius  was  passing  by,  he  saw  a  man 
who  had  fallen  from  such  a  height  that  all  his  bones 
and  members  were  shattered  so,  that  his  parents  were 
only  thinking  of  his  funeral,  and  addressing  himself 


176  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES. 

to  them  as  they  stood  weeping  he  said,  "Let  me  speak 
a  word  to  him,  and  perhaps  he  may  recover."  And 
when  the  crowd  retired,  he  stooped  down  and  repeated 
the  Lord's  Prayer  and  the  Creed  leisurely  over  his 
wounds,  and  his  bones  became  knit;  his  head  and 
his  bowels  were  made  whole  and  sound  as  if  nothing 
had  ever  happened  to  him. 

Upon  this,  Tiburtius  was  retiring,  when  he  was  laid 
hold  of  by  the  man's  parents  who  said,  **Come,  you 
must  have  him  for  your  slave,  and  we  will  give  you 
all  we  are  worth  along  with  him;  for  he  was  the  only 
one  we  had  and  you  have  restored  him  to  us  from 
death  to  life."  To  whom  Tiburtius  replied,  "If  you 
will  only  do,  what  I  shall  tell  you,  I  shall  have  made 
sufficient  profit  of  this  cure."  "And  if,"  said  they, 
"you  wish  ourselves  also  for  slaves,  how  shall  we  have 
the  heart  to  contradict  you?  Nay,  truly  it  is  our 
earnest  desire,  if  you  only  deign  to  wish  it." 

Then  taking  their  hands,  he  led  them  aside  from  the 
crowd  and  told  the  virtue  of  the  name  of  Christ  and 
seeing  their  souls  steady  in  the  fear  of  God  he  led  them 
to  the  pontiif  Caius,  saying,  "Venerable  Father,  and 
prelate  of  the  divine  law,  behold  these  two  who 
through  me  have  been  gained  this  day  to  Christ,  in 
whom  my  faith,  like  a  young  little  sapling  hath  borne 
fruit  for  the  first  time."  Then  the  holy  Pope  Caius 
baptized  the  youth  who  had  been  cured,  with  his 
parents,  giving  thanks  to  God. 

But,  passing  over  many  wonders  of  a  like  kind, 
which  Christ  operated  through  their  instrumentality 
we  should  state  how  each  of  them  obtained  the  mar- 
tyr's palm. 

Therefore,  it  occurred  that  as  the  blessed  Zoe  went 


POPES  OF  THE  CATACOMBS.  177 

on  the  natal  day  of  the  apostles  to  offer  prayers  at  the 
tomb  of  St.  Peter,  she  was  seized  by  tht  Gentiles,  who 
were  on  the  watch,  and  brought  closely  guarded  to 
Petronius,  who  presided  in  the  same  region,  called  the 
region  of  the  Naumachia,  because  of  the  lake  that  was 
there  for  the  ship  fights.  They  strove  then  to  compel 
Zoe  to  burn  incense  to  a  small  idol  of  Mars  that  was 
there,  to  whom  she  answered,  **To  show  that  your 
god  is  a  lover  of  impurity,  you  are  eager  to  oblige  a 
woman  to  sacrifice  to  him;  but  dream  not  that  the 
conduct  of  your  most  profligate  goddess  Venus,  is  to 
be  a  pattern  for  one  who  carries  the  trophy  of  faith 
upon  her  forehead;  for  it  is  not  by  any  power  of  my 
own,  but  by  the  grace  of  my  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  I 
am  enabled  to  set  your  tortures  and  your  gods  at 
defiance.*'  Then  Petronius  ordered  her  to  be  con- 
fined in  a  dungeon  of  profound  darkness,  where  she 
was  not  to  see  a  ray  of  light,  or  receive  any  substance, 
for  five  days,  superadding  the  menace,  that  this 
privation  of  light  and  food  should  be  prolonged  if  she 
refused  to  sacrifice.  But  during  that  interval,  those 
who  were  set  to  guard  her  dungeon  heard  her  singing 
hymns  of  thanksgiving  and  praise  to  God.  At  the 
end  of  six  days,  the  judge  was  reminded  of  her,  when 
he  was  in  a  fury  and  commanded  her  to  be  suspended 
by  her  hair  from  a  high  tree,  and  a  great  smoke  to  be 
created  under  her  by  burning  the  most  filthy  and  most 
fetid  substances;  and  scarcely  had  they  done  so,  when 
she  gave  up  her  life.  But  the  executioners  taking 
her  body  fastened  to  it  a  large  stone  and  flung  it  into 
the  Tiber  "lest  the  Christians."  said  they,  **come  and 
take  it  away  to  make  of  her  a  goddess." 

Having  thus  suffered  she  appeared  after  her  martyr- 


178  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES. 

dom  to  blessed  Sebastian,  in  his  sleep,  and  informed 
him  of  the  manner  of  her  trial,  which,  when  he  had 
narrated  to  the  others,  ''Lo!"  exclaimed  Tranquilli- 
nus,  ''how  we  men  are  outstripped  by  women,  who 
bear  away  the  crown,  why  do  we  cling  to  life?** 
Wherefore,  on  the  octave  day  of  the  apostles,  as  he 
was  going  to  pray  at  the  tomb  of  St.  Paul,  the  Gen- 
tiles lying  in  wait,  perceived  him  also;  and  falling  on 
him,  the  multitude  stoned  him  to  death,  and  cast  his 
body  into  the  Tiber. 

Nicostratus,  also,  with  Claudius,  and  Victorinus 
and  Symphorianus,  were  seized  while  seeking  the 
bodies  of  the  saints  along  the  river  banks,  and  taken 
before  the  city  prefect,  Fabianus,  who  exhorted  them 
to  sacrifice,  but  could  gain  nothing  by  ten  days  spent 
in  alternate  severities  and  blandishments.  He  there- 
fore, reported  to  the  emperors  (Diocletian  and 
Maximian)  who  ordered  them  to  the  torture  for  the 
third  time;  and  when  they  could  not  be  constrained  by 
violence  of  torment,  they  were  commanded  to  be 
brought  out,  and  cast  into  the  sea.  At  this  time  the 
Gentiles  became  so  incensed  against  the  faithful  that 
they  could  not  bear  the  mention  even  of  the  Christian 
name. 

In  the  interim,  a  certain  one  called  Torquatus 
associated  himself  to  the  holy  Pope  Caius,  pretending 
to  be  a  Christian;  but  he  was  an  apostate,  fraught  with 
duplicity  in  discourse,  and  in  all  his  actions  full  of 
insidious  cunning.  But  why  attempt  in  many  words 
to  portray  his  wickedness  ?  Sufficient  that  when  he 
was  upbraided  by  blessed  Tiburtius — noble  as  he  was 
learned  and  holy — with  his  personal  vanity,  with  his 
incessant  feasting  in  loose  company,  with  his  immoral- 


POPES  OF  THE  CA  TACOMBS,  179 

ity,  with  neglecting  the  fasts  and  offices  of  the  church, 
and  when  indulging  in  sleep  when  he  should  rise  to 
join  in  holy  vigils  with  his  brethren  and  in  singing^ 
hymns  of  praise  to  God — when,  I  say  he  was  for  these 
things  severely  reprehended  by  blessed  Tiburtius,  he 
pretended  to  listen  with  great  compunction  and  grati- 
tude to  his  admonitions  whilst  in  reality  he  laid  a  plan 
to  have  him  seized  by  the  Gentiles  as  he  was  at 
prayer;  so  arranging  it,  that  he  should  be  also  himself 
apprehended  with  him,  and  brought  before  the  cruel 
judges. 

When  the  judge  perceived  that  the  noble  young 
Christian  not  only  evaded  the  artful  attempts  of  the 
traitor  to  make  him  apostatize,  as  he  had  planned  to 
do,  but  overwhelmed  him  with  glowing  indignation, 
he  interposed  between  them,  and  said,  "No  longer  dis- 
grace your  lineage,  Tiburtius,  nor  pollute  and  degrade 
yourself  by  mingling  with  such  contaminated  dregs; 
but  be  what  nature  and  your  birth  intended  you  to  be, 
instead  of  exposing  yourself  to  torture,  infamy  and 
death."  Tiburtius,  said  "Oh,  most  sapient  man, 
worthy  to  be  constituted  judge  over  Romans!  Because 
I  refuse  to  adore  the  harlot  Venus;  Jove,  the  profli- 
gate. Mercury  the  rogue,  and  Saturn  the  murderer  of 
his  own  offspring,  I,  to  be  sure,  disgrace  my  lineage, 
and  brand  my  own  character  with  infamy!  And  be- 
cause I  adore  and  venerate  one  true  God,  whoreigneth 
in  the  heavens,  you  prepare  to  lacerate  me  with  tor- 
ments! But,  behold  us  ready;  we  refuse,  resist  not 
the  torture;  we  will  not  deny  Christ— Christ  the  son  of 
God  who  descended  from  heaven  to  earth,  that  mortals 
might  be  able  to  ascend  from  earth  to  heaven." 

Then  Fabianus  ordered  burning  coals  to  be  cast  be- 
Auastatius. 


180  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES. 

fore  him,  with  the  option  either  to  throw  some  grains 
of  inceanse  on  them,  or  to  walk  upon  them  with  naked 
feet.  The  latter  alternative  was  instantly  adopted  by 
Tiburtins,  after  making  the  sign  of  the  cross  over  the 
burnino^  coals;  and  as  he  moved  over  the  fiery  mass, 
he  said  to  the  prefect,  "Divest  yourself  of  infidelity, 
and  learn  that  all  teachers  are  subject  to  that  God 
alone  whom  we  adore.  Try  you  to  place  your  hand  in 
boiling  water,  in  the  name  of  Jupiter  and  let  it  be  seen 
if  this  god  of  yours  can  defend  you  from  pain;  for  as 
to  me,  these  burning  coals  feel  like  a  bed  of  roses, 
through  the  name  of  my  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

Fabianus  then  sentenced  him  as  a  blasphemer  of  the 
gods,  to  have  his  head  struck  off.  All  the  others,  the 
pious  chamberlain  who  had  sheltered  him  included, 
attained  the  same  glorious  crown;  but  the  venerable 
Pope  Caius  escaped  for  eight  years  longer,  shifting  his 
abode  from  one  crypt  and  catacomb  to  another,  until 
at  length  on  the  loth,  of  the  calends  of  May  A.  D. 
296,  he  w^as  slain,  and  interred  in  the  cemetery  of 
Callixtus.  After  an  interval  of  eleven  days  he  was 
succeeded  by  Pope  Marcellinus,  during  whose  pontifi- 
cate the  ranks  of  the  martyrs  in  Rome  were  swelled  by 
immense  numbers  of  the  soldiery. 

ROMAN   EMPIRE    IN    FIRST   THREE   CENTURIES. 

"The  vast  extent  of  the  empire,"  says  Gibbon  "was 
governed  by  absolute  power  under  the  guidance  of 
wisdom,  the  armies  were  restrained  by  the  firm  but 
gentle  hand  of  four  successive  emperors,  whose  char- 
acters and  authority  commanded  involuntary  respect. 
The  forms  of  civil  administrations  were  carefully  pre- 
served by  Nerva,  Trajan,  Adrian  and  the  Antonines, 
who  delighted  in  the  image  of  liberty,  and  were  pleased 


IMPERIAL  ROME.  181 

with  considering  themselves  as  the  accountable  minis- 
ters of  the  laws." 

Domitian  who  succeeded  Titus,  and  was  not  free 
from  suspicion  of  having  had  a  hand  in  his  brother's 
death,  was  himself,  after  a  despotic  reign  of  about  fif- 
teen years,  got  rid  of  by  the  poniard.  The  period  be- 
tween his  death,  and  the  accession  of  Commodusis  that 
in  which  the  Roman  world  is  said  to  have  enjoyed  the 
greatest  happiness  and  prosperity,  that  is  from  A.  D. 
96  to  A.  D.  180. 

"This  was  the  period,"  says  Sismondi,  "at  which 
more  especially  the  provincial  cities  attained  the  high- 
est pitch  of  opulence,  and  were  adorned  with  the  most 
remarkable  edifices.  Adrian  had  a  strong  taste  for  the 
arts,  and  for  all  the  enjoyments  of  life.  Adrian  was 
continually  traveling  through  the  provinces  of  his  vast 
empire;  he  excited  emulation  among  the  several  large 
cities  and  the  wealthier  citizens;  and  he  carried  to  the 
furthest  extremeties  of  the  Roman  dominions  that 
luxury  and  taste  for  decoration  which  before  his  time, 
was  the  exclusive  distinction  of  those  magnificent 
cities  which  were  deemed  the  depositories  of  the  civil- 
ization of  the  world.  This  example  of  the  emperors 
was  universally  imitated  by  their  subjects.  Scarcely 
had  the  proud  structure  of  the  Coliseum  been  dedicat- 
ed at  Rome"  (it  was  there  St.  Ignatius  disciple  of  St. 
John  the  Evangelist,  was  devoured  by  wild  beasts) 
"before  the  edifices  of  a  smaller  scale  indeed,  but  of 
the  same  design  and  materials  were  erected  for  the  use 
and  at  the  expense  of  the  cities  of  Capua,  and  Verona, 

The  inscription  of  the  stupendous  bridge  of  Alcaa^ 
tara  attests  that  it  was  thrown  over  the  Tagus  by  the 
contribution  of  a  few  Lusitanian  (Portuguese)  comma- 


182  THE  FIRST  THREE   CENTURIES. 

nities.  When  Pliny  the  Younger  was  intrusted  by 
Trajan  with  the  government  of  Bithynia  and  Pontus, 
provinces  by  no  means  the  richest  or  most  considera- 
te of  the  empire,  he  found  the  cities  within  his  juris- 
<iiction  striving  with  each  other  in  every  useful  and 
ornamental  work  that  deserves  the  curiosity  of  stran- 
gers, or  the  gratitude  of  their  citizens.  The  opulent 
senators  of  Rome  and  the  provinces  esteemed  it  an 
honor,  and  almost  an  obligation,  to  adorn  the  splendor 
of  their  age  and  country,  and  the  influence  of  fashion 
very  frequently  supplied  the  want  of  taste  or  generos- 
ity. Among  a  crowd  of  these  private  benefactors,  it  is 
usual  with  historians  to  select  as  a  sample,  Herodes 
Atticus,  an  Athenian  citizen,  who  lived  in  the  age  of 
the  Antonines. 

The  ablest  preceptors  of  Greece  and  Asia  had  been 
invited  by  liberal  rewards  to  direct  the  education  of 
young  Herodes.  Their  pupil  soon  became  a  celebrated 
orator,  according  to  the  rhetoric  of  that  age,  which, 
confining  itself  to  the  schools,  disdained  to  visit  either 
the  forum  or  the  senate.  He  was  honored  with  the 
consulship  of  Rome,  but  the  greatest  part  of  his  life 
was  spent  in  philosophic  retirement  at  Athens  and  his 
adjacent  villas,  perpetually  surrounded  by  sophists 
who  acknowledged  without  reluctance  the  superiority 
of  a  rich  and  generous  rival.  The  monuments  of  his 
genius  having  perished,  some  considerable  ruins  still 
preserve  the  fame  of  his  taste  and  munificence.  He 
liad  received  a  grant  of  three  million  drachmae  ($500,- 
000)  for  the  construction  of  an  aqueduct  at  Troy,  but 
to  render  it  more  magnificent  he  doubled  the  sum  from 
his  own  private  fortune.  At  Athens,  where  he  pre- 
sided over  the  public  games,  he  built  a  stadium  of 


IMPERIAL  ROME,  183 

white  marble  six  hundred  feet  in  length,  and  of  suffi- 
cient size  to  contain  an  immense  concourse  of  people. 
Shortly  afterwards,  having  lost  his  wife  Regilla,  he 
consecrated  to  her  memory  a  theatre  unmatched 
throughout  the  whole  extent  of  the  empire.  The  only 
timber  used  was  cedar,  exquisitely  carved.  The 
Odeon,  built  in  the  time  of  Pericles,  had  fallen  into 
ruin.  Herodes  Atticus  rebuilt  it  at  his  own  cost  in 
all  its  ancient  splendor.  Greece  was  likewise  indebted 
to  him  for  the  restoration  of  the  temple  of  Neptune,  in 
the  isthmus  of  Corinth;  for  the  construction  of  the 
theatre  at  Corinth;  for  a  stadium  at  Delphi;  a  bath  at 
Thermopylae;  and  Italy  for  an  aqueduct  at  Canusium. 
Many  other  cities  of  Epirus,  Thessalia,  Euboea,  Boe- 
tia,  and  Peloponnesus  were  likewise  adorned  through 
his  liberality.  Every  province  contained  some  citizen 
who  resembled  Herodes  in  magnificence.  "We  cannot 
refuse  the  tribute  of  praise  to  Atticus,"  concludes  Sis- 
mondi,  "but  we  must  pity  the  country  where  such  for- 
tunes can  be  accumulated;  where  one  man  of  enormous 
wealth  and  thousands  of  dependent  slaves  must  have 
taken  the  place  of  millions  of  men,  free,  happy,  and 
virtuous." 

"The  vast  extent  of  ground  which  had  been  usurped 
by  the  selfish  luxury  of  Nero  for  his  golden  palace  and 
its  adjacent  parks,  gardens,  hippodromes,  and  artifi- 
cial lakes,,  was  more  nobly  filled,"  says  Mr.  Gibbon, 
"by  the  Coliseum  (dedicated  to  murder),  the  Baths  of 
Titus,  the  Claudian  Portico,  the  temple  dedicated  to 
the  goddess  of  peace,  and  the  temple  of  the  Roman 
Venus.  This  last  mentioned  temple  was  a  public 
brothel.  These  monuments  of  architecture,  the  prop- 
erty of  the  Roman  people,  were  adorned  with  the  most 


184  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES, 

beautiful  productions  of  Grecian  painting  and  sculp- 
ture; and  in  the  Temple  of  Peace  a  very  curious  li- 
brary was  opened  to  the  curiosity  of  the  learned.  At 
a  small  distance  thence  was  situated  the  forum  of  Tra- 
jan. It  was  surrounded  with  a  lofty  portico  in  the 
form  of  a  quadrangle,  in  which  four  triumphal  arches 
opened  a  noble  and  spacious  entrance;  in  the  centre 
(rather  at  the  west  end),  arose  a  column  of  marble, 
whose  height  of  one  hundred  and  ten  feet  denoted  the 
elevation  of  the  hill  that  had  been  cut  away  (by  slaves, 
multitudes  of  whom  were  Christians). 

This  column,  which  still  subsists  in  its  ancient 
beauty  (surmounted  by  the  statue  of  St.  Peter),  ex- 
hibited an  exact  representation  of  the  Dacian  victories 
of  the  founder  (Zingis  Khan  of  his  age).  The  vet- 
eran soldier  contemplated  the  story  of  his  own  cam- 
paigns, and  by  an  easy  illusion  of  national  vanity,  the 
peaceful  citizen  associated  himself  to  the  honors  of  the 
triumph  (and  to  the  merit  and  havoc  of  the  devasta- 
tion), all  the  other  quarters  of  the  capital  and  all  the 
provinces  of  the  empire  were  embellished  by  the  same 
liberal  spirit  of  public  magnificence,  and  were  filled 
with  amphitheatres,  theatres,  temples,  porticoes,  baths, 
triumphal  arches,  and  aqueducts,  all  variously  condu- 
cive to  the  health,  the  devotion,  and  the  pleasure  of 
the  meanest  citizen.  The  aqueducts  of  the  capital 
claim  a  just  pre-eminence,  but  the  curious  traveler, 
who,  without  the  light  of  history,  should 'examine 
those  of  Spoleto,  of  Metz,  or  of  Segovia,  would  very 
naturally  conclude  that  those  provincial  towns  had  for- 
merly been  the  residence  of  some  potent  monarch. 
The  solitudes  of  Asia  and  Africa  were  covered,  in  the 
age  of  the  Antonines,  with  flourishing  cities,  whose 


IMPERIAL  ROME.  18^ 

populousness,  and  even  whose  existence,  was  derived 
from  such  artificial  supplies  as  a  perennial  stream  of 
fresh  water. 

"Italy  alone  contained  eleven  hundred  and  ninety- 
seven  cities.  Many  were  the  cities  of  Gaul;  Marseilles, 
Aries,  Nismes,  Narbonne,  Toulouse,  Bordeaux,  Au- 
tun,  Vienne,  Lyons,  Langres,  and  Treves,  whose  an- 
cient condition  might  sustain  an  equal,  and  perhaps 
advantageous  comparison  with  their  present  state. 
Spain  numbered  three  hundred  and  sixty  cities.  In 
Africa  there  were  three  hundred  cities  within  the  lim- 
its of  the  ancient  domain  of  Carthage,  which  like  Cor- 
inth, had  risen  with  new  splendor  from  the  heap  of 
ruins  to  which  Scipio  had  reduced  it,  and  where 
Marius  had  ruminated  upon  his  own  reverse  of  fortune. 
Proper  Asia  alone  contained  five  hundred  populous 
cities,  enriched  with  all  the  gifts  of  nature,  and 
adorned  with  all  the  refinements  of  art.  Eleven  cities 
of  Asia  had  once  disputed  the  honor  of  dedicating  a 
temple  to  Tiberius  and  their  respective  claims  were 
examined  by  the  senate.  Four  of  them  were  immedi- 
ately rejected,  as  unequal  to  the  burden,  and  among 
these  was  Laodicea,  a  place  deriving  great  wealth  from 
its  trade  in  the  fine  wool  of  its  flocks;  and  which  had 
just  before  the  contest  received  a  legacy  of  12,000,000 
drachmae,  by  the  testament  of  one  of  its  citizens.  If 
such  was  Laodicea.  what  must  have  been  the  wealth 
of  those  cities,  whose  claim  appeared  preferable,  and 
particularly  of  Perganuis,  of  Smyrna,  of  Kphesus, 
which  so  long  disputed  with  each  other,  the  primacy 
of  Asia  ?  The  capitals  of  Syria  and  Egypt  held  a  supe- 
rior rank  in  the  empire;  Antioch  and  Alexandria  looked 
down  with  disdain  on  a  crowd  of  dependent  cities,  and 


186  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES. 

yielded  with  reluctance  to  the  majesty  of  Rome  itself. 
The  spirit  of  improvement  had  passed  the  Alps,  and 
had  been  felt  even  in  the  woods  of  Britain,  which  were 
gradually  cleared  away,  to  open  a  free  space  for  con- 
venient and  elegant  habitations." 

THE  NEMESIS. 

It  is  scarcely  surprising  that  the  Romans,  dazzled  as 
they  were  by  the  extensive  swa}^  and  irresistible 
strength  of  the  emperors,  should  have  suffered  them- 
selves to  despise  and  sometimes  to  forget  the  outlying 
countries  possessed  by  savage  nations  without  arts  or 
discipline  or  any  written  laws,  and  that  looking  back 
to  their  disgrace  and  sufferings  under  the  first  Caesars, 
they  should  have  extolled  the  period  of  Trajan  and 
the  Antonines  as  a  golden  age. 

Yet  it  was  during  this  same  period  that  peace  and 
prosperity  fostered  the  colossal  growth  of  a  few  for- 
tunes, of  those  latifundia,  or  vast  domains,  which,  ac- 
cording to  Pliny  the  Elder,  were  the  destruction  of 
Italy  and  the  empire.  A  single  proprietor  gradually 
became  possessed  of  provinces  which  had  furnished 
the  republic  with  the  occasion  of  decreeing  more  than 
one  triumph  to  its  generals.  While  he  amassed  wealth 
so  disproportionate  to  the  wants  of  a  single  man,  he 
cleared  all  the  country  he  got  within  his  grasp  of  that 
numerous  and  respectable  class  of  independent  cultiva- 
tors, hitherto  so  happy  in  their  mediocrity.  Where 
thousands  of  free  citizens  had  formerly  been  found 
ready  to  defend  the  soil  they  tilled  with  their  own 
hands,  nothing  was  to  be  seen  but  slaves.  Even  this 
miserable  population  rapidly  diminished,  because  its 
labor  was  too  expensive;  and  the  proprietor  found  it 
answer  better  to  turn  his  land  into  pasture.  The  fer- 
Gibbon, 


IMPERIAL  ROME.  187 

tile  fields  of  Italy  ceased  to  supply  food  for  their  in- 
habitants; the  provisioning  of  Rome  depended  on  fleets 
which  brought  corn  from  Sicily,  from  Egypt,  and  from 
Africa;  from  the  capital  to  the  uttermost  provinces, 
depopulation  followed  in  the  train  of  overgrown  wealth; 
and  it  was  in  the  midst  of  this  universal  prosperity, 
before  a  single  barbarian  had  crossed  the  frontiers  of 
the  empire,  that  the  difficulty  of  recruiting  the  legioriS 
began  to  be  felt.  In  the  war  against  the  Quadi  and 
Marcomanni,  that  was  preceded  by  so  long  a  peace, 
Marcus  Aurelius  was  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  en- 
rolling the  slaves  and  robbers  of  Rome. 

The  frontier  provinces,  those  most  exposed  to  the 
attacks  of  the  barbarians,  those  which  suffered  the 
most  from  the  presence  and  the  military  vexations  of 
the  legions,  did  not  suffer  so  much  from  the  rapid 
decline  of  population,  and  the  warlike  virtues,  as  the 
more  wealthy  provinces  of  the  interior.  The  levies  of 
troops  were  no  longer  made  in  Rome;  they  were  raised 
almost  exclusively  in  northern  Gaul,  and  along  the 
right  bank  of  the  Danube.  This  long  Illyriau  frontier 
in  particular,  for  more  than  two  centuries,  preserved 
the  reputation  of  furnishing  more  soldiers  to  the 
empire  than  all  the  rest  of  the  provinces  combined. 
This  border  country  had  offered  little  temptation  to 
the  cupidity  of  the  Roman  senators;  they  cared  not  to 
have  their  property  in  a  province  constantly  harassed 
by  the  enemy.  The  land  which  the  senators  would 
not  buy  remained  in  the  possession  of  the  old  proprie- 
tors; there,  consequently  a  population,  free,  hardy, 
robust  and  numerous  maintained  itself.  It  long 
furnished  the  army  with  soldiers,  it  soon  supplied  it 
with  chiefs. 


188  THE  FIRST  THREE   CENTURIES. 

It  was  scarcely  possible  that  the  eyes  of  contempora- 
ries should  discover  in  the  public  felicity  the  causes  of 
decay  and  corruption.  This  long  peace,  and  the 
uniform  government  of  the  Romans,  introduced  a  slow 
and  secret  poison  into  the  vitals  of  the  empire.  The 
minds  of  men  were  gradually  reduced  to  the  same 
level,  the  fire  of  genius  was  extinguished,  and  even 
the  military  spirit  evaporated;  Spain,  Gaul,  Britain, 
and  lUyricum,  supplied  the  legions  with  excellent 
soldiers,  and  constituted  the  real  strength  of  the 
monarchy.  Their  personal  valor  remained,  but  they 
no  longer  possessed  that  personal  courage  which  is 
nourished  by  the  love  of  independence,  the  sense  of 
national  honor,  the  presence  of  danger,  and  the  habit 
of  command.  They  received  laws  and  governors  from 
the  will  of  despotic  sovereigns  and  trusted  for  their 
defense  to  a  mercenary  army. 

That  army  soon  ceased  to  be  officered  by  men  who 
had  received  a  liberal  education,  and  were  instructed 
in  the  advantages  of  laws  and  letters.  Effeminacy, 
and  the  extinction  of  every  spark  of  patriotism  and 
independence  among  the  nobles,  had  made  them 
adverse  to  the  military  service;  so  that  their  total 
exclusion  from  it,  by  Gallienus,  would  seem  to  have 
been  acquiesced  in  by  them,  with  secret  satisfaction. 
The  more  polished  citizens  of  the  internal  provinces 
were  alone  qualified  to  act  as  lawyers  and  magistrates. 
The  rougher  trade  of  arms  was  abandoned  to  the 
peasants  and  barbarians  of  the  frontiers,  who  knew  no 
country  but  the  camp,  no  science  but  that  of  war,  no 
civil  laws,  and  scarcely  those  of  military  discipline; 
with  bloody  hands,  savage  manners,  and  desperate 
resolutions,  they  sometimes  guarded,  but  much  oftener 
subverted  the  throne  of  the  emperors. 


IMPERIAL  ROME.  18» 

Commodus,  son  and  successor  of  Marcus  Aurelius 
having  been  murdered  in  the  year  193,  was  succeeded 
by  Helvius  Pertinax,  soon  after  murdered  by  the  Prae- 
torian guards,  who  then   set  the   empire  to   auction. 
Didius  Julius,   a  wealthy  senator  was  the  highest  bid- 
der, but  expiated  his  presumption  with  his  life,  after  a 
reign,  such  as  it  was,  of  only  sixty    days.      It   is   not 
improbable,  that  Septimius  Severus,    who   succeeded, 
was  murdered  by  hib  own  son.  Caracalla,  who  in  order 
to  rid  himself  of  a  partner  in  the  throne,    assassinated 
his  brother  Getain  the  arms  of  their  common   mother, 
where  the  unfortunate  young  prince  had  taken  refuge. 
Caracalla  fell,  in  his  turn  by    the  hand  of    a    private 
soldier,  and  was  succeeded  by    Opilius  Macrinus,  soon 
after  slain,  to  be  succeeded  by  Heliogabalus,   w^bo  was 
soon  murdered,  and  flung  into  the  Tiber,  with  a  stone 
tied  about  his  neck.     His  successor  Alexander  Severus 
was  murdered  in  his  tent,  and  succeeded  by    Maximin 
a  Goth,  who,  with  his  son,  was  soon  after  murdered. 
Pupienus  and    Caelius  Albinus  who  succeeded,    were 
slain  by  the  soldiery,   who  elect  the  youthful  Gordian 
emperor:     He  when  hardly  eighteen,  is  also  murdered. 
Philip,  an  Arab  by  birth,  succeeds  with  his  brother, 
and  both  are  slain  by  Decius,  who  succeeding  is  him- 
self slain  by  the  Goths,  with  his  only  son.     The  va- 
cant purple  is  given  to  Gallus  by  the  army,    but  on 
seeing  a   rival  advancing  at  the   head   of  a   superior 
force,  they  murder  himself  and  his  son,  and  pass  over 
to  Julius  lunilianus,    whom  they  murder  on  the  ap- 
proach of  Valerian.     This  emperor  having  been  taken 
prisoner  by  Saper,  king  of  Persia,  was  flayed  alive,  af- 
ter having  been  used  as  a  footstool   by  his  conqueror 
and  treated  with  various  other  indignities.     The  reign 


190  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES. 

of  his  son  and  colleague  Gallienns  is  the  time  of  the 
"Thirty  Tyrants." 

The  election  of  these  precarious  emperors,  their 
power,  and  their  death,  were  equally  destructive  to 
their  subjects  and  adherents.  The  price  of  their  fatal 
elevation  was  instantly  discharged  to  the  troops  by  an 
immense  donative  drawn  from  the  bowels  of  the  ex- 
haustive people;  whatever  their  character,  or  intentions 
they  found  themselves  reduced  to  the  hard  necessity 
of  supporting  their  usurpation  by  frequent  acts  of  ra- 
pine and  cruelty.  When  they  fell,  they  involved  ar- 
mies and  provinces  in  their  fall.  There  is  still  extant 
a  mandate  from  Gallienus  to  one  of  his  ministers,  after 
the  suppression  of  In^enuus,  who  had  assumed  the  pur- 
ple in  Illyricum. 

'*It  is  not  enough,"  says  that  soft  and  inhuman 
prince,  **that  you  exterminate  such  as  have  appeared 
in  arms;  the  chance  of  battle  might  have  served  me  as 
eifectually.  The  male  sex  of  every  age  must  be  ex- 
terminated; provided  that  in  the  execution  of  the  chil- 
dren and  old  men,  you  can  contrive  means  to  save  our 
reputation.  Let  everyone  die  who  has  dropped  an 
expression,  who  has  entertained  a  thought  against 
me — against  me,  the  son  of  Valerian,  the  father  and 
brother  of  so  many  princes.  Remember  that  Ingenuus 
was  made  emperor;  tear,  kill,  hew  him  to  pieces.  I 
write  to  you  with  my  own  hand,  and  would  inspire  you 
with  my  own  feelings." 

''Thus,"  says  Sismondi,  "was  the  world  taught  by 
ninety-two  years  of  nearly  incessant  civil  war,  on  what 
a  frail  and  unstable  foundation  the  virtue  of  the  Anto- 
nines  had  reared  the  felicity  of  the  empire.  During 
that  time,  thirty-two  emperors  and  twenty- seven  pre- 


IMPERIAL  ROME.  191 

tenders  to  the  empire,  alternately  hurled  each  other 
from  the  throne,  either  by  open  violence  or  assassina- 
tion; the  sovereignty  of  the  world  was  put  up  to  auc- 
tion; the  legions  of  the  East  and  West  disputed  the 
fatal  honor  of  decorating  with  the  purple,  men  taken 
from  the  lowest  ranks  of  society,  without  genius,  with- 
out education,  raised  by  the  brutal  caprice  of  their 
comrades,  above  all  that  the  world  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  hold  in  reverence. ' '  When  the  military  order 
had  thus  levelled  in  wild  anarchy  the  laws  of  the  sen- 
ate, and  even  the  discipline  of  the  camp,  the  barbari- 
ans of  the  North  and  of  the  East,  who  had  hovered  on 
the  frontiers,  boldly  attacked  the  provinces  of  the  de- 
clining monarchy.  The  legions  enfeebled  and  reduced 
to  less  than  6,000  men  each,  had  been  withdrawn  from 
guarding  against  their  invasions,  to  massacre  each 
other  in  almost  continual  conflicts.  Their  discipline 
was  utterly  destroyed;  their  leaders  neither  merited  nor 
obtained  their  confidence.  After  a  defeat,  it  was  im- 
possible to  recruit  the  army,  on  account  of  causes 
before  alluded  to,  and  of  the  clearance  system  in  par- 
ticular. At  the  moment  of  an  attack,  it  was  with  the 
greatest  difficulty  they  could  be  induced  to  march. 
The  barbarians,  witnesses  of  this  anarchy,  and  of  these 
conflicts,  no  longer  beholding  on  their  frontiers  those 
formidable  camps  of  the  legions  which  had  so  lonj^ 
held  them  in  awe,  as  if  by  common  consent  made  in- 
cursions at  all  points  at  once,  from  the  extremities  of 
Caledonia  to  those  of  Persia. 

Issuing  from  the  frozen  regions  beyond  the  Baltic, 
the  Goths,  in  the  reign  of  Alexander  Severus  (A.  D. 
222-235)  broke  in  upon  the  provinces  of  Dacta, 
ravaged  Masia  in  the  reign  of  Philip,  and  although 


192  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES. 

frequently  encountered  and  driven  back  with  slaughter 
upon  the  German  borders,  new  swarms  succeeded,  and 
advancing  further  south  in  each  invasion,  at  length, 
near  an  obscure  town  of  Masia,  called  Forum  Tere- 
bonii,  joined  battle  with  the  imperial  legions,  com- 
manded by  Decius  in  person,  routed  them  with 
tremendous  havoc,  slaying  the  emperor  and  his  son 
upon  the  field.  Following  up  this  victory,  we  find 
them  successively  plundering,  and  leaving  desolate, 
the  rich  cities  of  (Trapezus  (Trebizond),  Chalcedon, 
Nicaea,  Nicomedia,  Apamaea,  Prusa,  Cyzicus,  thence 
sweeping  along  the  Bosphorus  and  propontis,  passing 
the  Hellespont  with  a  fleet  of  five  hundred  vessels, 
and  so  entering  the  Piraeus.  Athens  could  offer  no 
resistance.  A  general  conflagration  burst  out  at  the 
same  time  in  every  district  of  Greece.  Thebes  and 
Argos,  Corinth  and  Sparta,  which  had  formerly  waged 
war  against  each  other,  w^ere  now  unable  to  defend 
their  ruined  walls.  Both  by  land  and  sea,  the  rage  of 
war  spread  from  the  Eastern  point  of  Sunium  to  the 
Western  coast  of  Epirus,  nor  were  the  invaders  checked 
in  the  career  of  devastation  until  within  sight  of  Italy. 
In  another  direction,  the  empire  was  invaded  by  the 
Franks,  the  name  of  a  Confederacy  of  the  Chaucans, 
Cherucans,  Chattans,  and  other  fierce  tribes  of  warlike 
Germany,  whose  valor  had  for  centuries  proved  formid- 
able to  the  Romans.  The  Rhine,  though  dignified 
with  the  title  of  "Safeguard  of  the  provinces,"  was  an 
imperfect  barrier  against  their  daring  spirit.  They 
burst  upon  Gaul.  Their  rapid  devastations  stretched 
from  the  river  to  the  foot  of  the  Pyrenees,  nor  were 
they  stopped  by  the  mountains.  Spain,  which  had 
never  dreaded,  was  unable  to  resist  the  inroads  of  the 


IMPERIAL  ROME.  193 

Germans,  and  during  twelve  years  that  opulent 
country  was  the  theatre  of  unequal  and  destructive 
hostilities.  Wretched  cottages,  scattered  amidst  the 
ruins  of  magnificent  cities,  for  centuries  afterwards 
recorded  the  rage  of  the  barbarians. 

When  the  exhausted  country  no  longer  supplied  a 
variety  of  plunder,  the  Franks  seized  on  some  vessels 
in  the  sea  ports  and  transported  themselves  into  Mau- 
ritania. The  distant  province  was  astonished  with  the 
fury  of  these  invaders,  who  seemed  to  fall  from  a  new 
world,  as  their  name,  manners,  and  complexion  were 
equally  unknown  on  the  coast  of  Africa. 

Jealous  as  were  the  Germans  of  military  renown, 
they  all  confessed  the  superior  valor  of  the  Suevi, 
whose  wide  extended  name  filled  the  immense  coun- 
tries between  the  Oder  and  the  Danube.  They  were 
distinguished  from  the  rest  of  their  countrymen  by 
their  peculiar  mode  of  dressing  their  long  hair,  which 
they  gathered  into  a  rude  knot  on  the  crown  of  the 
head,  and  they  delighted  in  an  ornament  that  showed 
their  ranks  more  lofty  and  terrible  in  the  eyes  of  the 
enemy.  At  stated  periods,  the  tribes,  who  gloried  in 
the  Sue  vie  blood,  resorted  by  their  ambassadors  to  a 
sacred  wood,  deemed  to  be  the  birthplace  of  the  na- 
tion, and  there  the  memory  of  their  common  origin 
was  perpetuated  by  human  sacrifices.  Such  were  the 
warlike  people,  who,  under  the  title  of  Alemans,  or 
"Allmen,"  first  lifted  the  veil  that  covered  the  feeble 
majesty  of  Italy.  Bursting  across  the  Danube,  and 
through  the  Rhoetian  Alps,  they  spread  dismay  over 
the  plains  of  Lombardy,  advanced  as  far  as  Ravenna, 
and  displayed  the  victorious  banner  of  barbariana 
almost  in  sight  of  Rome. 

Gibbon, 


194  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES. 

In  all  their  invasions,  these  barbarians  preserved  the 
recollection  of  the  long  terrors  and  the  long  resentment 
with  which  the  Romans  had  inspired  them.  Their 
hatred  was  still  too  fresh  and  fervent  to  allow  them  to 
show  any  pity  to  their  vanquished  foes.  Till  then 
they  had  seen  nothing  of  the  Romans  but  their 
soldiers,  but  when  they  suddenly  penetrated  into  the 
midst  of  these  magnificent  and  populous  cities,  at  first 
feared  that  they  should  be  crushed  by  a  multitude  so 
superior  to  their  own;  but  when  they  saw  and  under- 
stood the  cowardice  of  these  enervated  masses,  their 
fear  was  changed  into  the  deepest  scorn.  Their 
cruelty  was  in  proportion  to  these  two  sentiments,  and 
their  object  was  rather  destruction  than  conquest. 
The  population  which  had  been  thinned  by  the  opera- 
tion of  wealth  and  luxury,  was  not  further  reduced  by 
that  of  poverty.  The  human  species  seemed  to  vanish 
before  the  sword  of  the  barbarians.  Sometimes  they 
massacred  all  the  inhabitants  of  a  town;  sometimes 
they  sent  them  into  slavery,  far  from  the  country  of 
their  birth.  After  such  calamities,  fresh  fears,  fresh 
oppression,  fresh  miseries  effectually  checked  the 
growth  of  the  population.  Vast  deserts  formed 
themselves  in  the  heart  of  the  empire. 

General  famine  was  the  inevitable  consequence  of 
rapine  and  oppression,  which  extirpated  the  produce 
of  the  present,  and  the  hope  of  future  harvests. 
Famine  is  almost  always  followed  by  epidemical  dis- 
eases, the  effect  of  scanty  and  unwholesome  food. 
Other  causes  must,  however,  have  contributed  to  the 
furious  plague,  which,  from  the  year  250  to  the  year 
265,  raged  without  interruption  in  every  province, 
every  city,  and  almost  every  family  of  the  Roman 
Sismondi. 


IMPERIAL  ROME.  195 

empire.  During  some  time  five  thousand  persons  died 
daily  in  Rome;  and  many  towns  that  had  escaped  the 
hands  of  the  barbarians  were  entirely  depopulated. 
Applying  this  authentic  fact  to  the  most  correct  tables 
of  mortality,  it  evidently  proves  that  above  half  the 
people  of  Alexandria  had  perished;  and  could  we 
venture  to  extend  the  analogy  to  other  provinces,  we 
might  suspect  that  war,  pestilence  and  famine,  had 
consumed  in  a  few  years  one-half  the  people  of  the 
empire. 

It  is  scarcely  surprising  that  the  face  of  nature 
should  have  appeared  sad  and  boding  to  a  generation 
thus  overwhelmed  with  calamities. 

"The  showers  of  Spring  time  fail  us,"  they  said, 
''for  nourishing  the  seed,  the  sun's  heat  in  summer 
for  ripening  the  corn.  While  the  husbandman 
languishes  in  the  fields,  the  sailor  at  sea.  the  soldier 
in  the  camp,  honesty  sinks  in  the  mart,  justice  from 
the  tribunal,  affection  from  friendship,  skill  from  the 
arts,  and  discipline  from  society." 

In  short,  trom  the  secular  games  celebrated  by 
Philip,  to  the  death  (by  assassination)  of  the  emperor 
Gallienus,  there  elapsed  twenty  years  of  shame  and 
misfortune,  during  which  period  every  province  of  the 
Roman  world,  was  afflicted  by  barbarous  invaders,  or 
military  tyrants,  and  the  ruined  empire  seemed  to  ap- 
proach the  last  and  fatal  moment  of  its  dissolution. 
Claudius,  surnamed  the  Gothic,  who  succeeded  him 
writes  thus  to  the  senate  on  his  accession,  269. 

"Conscript  Fathers!  I  know  that  three  hundred 
and  twenty  thousand  Goths  have  invaded  the  Roman 
territory.  If  I  vanquish  them,  your  gratitude  will  re- 
ward my  services.     Should  I  fall,  remember  that  I  am 


196  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES. 

the  successor  of  Gallienus.  The  whole  republic  is 
fatigued  and  exhausted;  and  even  though  successful 
against  its  foreign  foes,  we  shall  have  still  to  subdue 
the  thousand  usurpers  whom  a  just  contempt  for  Gall- 
ienus provoked  into  rebellion.  We  are  in  want  of 
darts,  of  spears,  and  of  shields.  The  strength  of  the 
empire,  Gaul  and  Spain,  are  usurped  by  Tetricus,  and 
we  blush  to  acknowledge  that  the  archers  of  the  East 
serve  under  the  banners  of  Zenobia." 

In  the  midst  of  the  Gothic  war,  which  he  had  carried 
on  for  two  years  with  great  heroism  and  ferocity, 
Claudius  died  of  pestilence  at  Sirmium  recommending 
as  the  best  man  qualified  to  cope  with  the  perils  of  the 
state,  the  son  of  a  Dacian  peasant,  who  by  his  match" 
less  valor,  had  raised  himself  from  the  ranks  to  the  com- 
mand of  the  Roman  armies.  This  was  Aurelian.  It 
is  true,  his  victories,  during  a  four  years'  reign,  which 
formed  but  one  continuous  campaign,  were  numerous 
and  brilliant;  in  his  triumph,  not  only  Goths,  Vandals, 
Sarmatians,  Alemanni.  Franks,  Gauls,  Syrians,  Egypt- 
ians, but  queens  and  emperors  were  led  in  chains;  but 
the  new  line  of  wall  with  which  he  fortified  the  eter- 
nal city,  was  a  signal  that  the  frontiers  had  given  way, 
and  that,  in  spite  of  all  resistance,  the  surges  of  invas- 
ion, would  beat,  ere  long,  over  the  Capitol  itself. 

"The  wall  of  Aurelian,"  says  Gibbon,  *'was  a  great 
but  a  melancholy  labor;"  since  the  defense  of  the 
capital  betrayed  the  decline  of  the  monarchy.  The 
Romans  of  a  more  prosperous  age,  who  trusted  to  the 
arms  of  the  legions  the  safety  of  the  frontier  camps, 
were  far  from  entertaining  a  suspicion  that  it  would 
ever  beoome  necessary  to  fortify  the  seat  of  empire 
against  the  inroads  of  barbarians.     In    fact  from  this 


IMPERIAL  ROME,  Wt 

reign,  interrupted  as  usual  by  assassination  up  to  the 
time  of  Constantine  the  Great,  the  provinces  of  the 
Roman  world  were  not  only  desolated  by  barbarians, 
but  its  government  and  destinies  were  in  their  hands. 

Aurelian  withdrew  the  Roman  forces  from  Dacia, 
and  tacitly  relinquished  that  great  province  to  the 
Goths  and  Vandals.  Probus  even  invited  the  barbar- 
ians to  settle  within  the  vast  solitudes,  which  incessant 
wars  had  left  along  the  entire  extent  of  Illyria.  Into 
Britain,  and  most  probably  into  Cambridgeshire,  he 
transported  a  considerable  body  of  Vandals.  Great 
numbers  of  Gepidae  and  Franks  were  settled  on  the 
banks  of  the  Danube  and  the  Rhine;  a  hundred  thou- 
sand Bastarnae,  expelled  from  their  own  country,  were 
established  in  Thrace.  Besides  all  this,  vast  bodies  of 
the  invaders  were  taken  into  the  Roman  service  to 
make  head  against  their  own  countrymen,  whom  the 
effete  and  demoralized  Romans  were  no  longer  able  to 
resist. 

"The  feeble  elegance  of  Italy."  says  Gibbon,  "and 
of  the  internal  provinces,  could  no  longer  support  the 
weight  of  arms."  The  hardy  frontier  of  the  Rhine 
and  Danube  still  produced  minds  and  bodies  equal  to 
the  labors  of  the  camp,  but  a  peri)etual  series  of  warn 
had  gradually  diminished  their  numbers,  and  the  liber- 
tinism  of  manners  with  the  ruin  of  agriculture  rebull- 
ing  from  this  state  of  things,  not  only  destroyed  the 
strength  of  provinces,  but  intercepted  the  hopcn  of 
future  generations.  Rome,  no  longer  able  even  lo  de- 
fend herself  with  iron,  had  recourse  to  gold,  and 
thenceforward,  it  was  only  by  contriving  to  martial  the 
invaders  tliemselves  in  her  defense,  that  she  endeav* 
ored  to  ward  off    impending  ruin.  Nay  from  the  ( 


198  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES, 

sion  of  Diocletian,  Sept.  17.  284 — a  barbarian  and  a 
slave,  up  to  the  astonishing  rise  and  triumph  of  Con- 
stantine  the  Great,  the  whole  Roman  world  was  not  so 
much  invaded,  as  ravaged  and  held  in  unresisting 
thraldom,  during  a  period  of  upwards  of  thirty  years, 
by  emperors  devoted  to  barbarian  views  and  passions, 
and  hostile  to  the  interests  and  existence  of  Rome. 

THK  TYRANT  DIOCLETIAN. 

The  parents  of  Diocletian  had  been  slaves  in  the 
house  of  Annulinus,  a  Roman  senator;  it  is  not  im- 
probable that  his  father,  it  is  certain  that  his  mother, 
was  of  barbarian  descent. 

When  the  son  of  these  captives,  of  whose  bitter 
wrongs  and  insults  he  no  doubt  had  often  heard,  beheld 
the  Roman  world  at  his  feet,  it  was  not  unnatural  that 
resentments,  which  could  not  fail  to  be  excited  in  a 
haughty  and  revengeful  spirit  by  such  family  recollec- 
tions, should  have  given  a  tinge  even  to  his  imperial 
policy.  But  no  matter  what  might  be  their  secret 
spring,  his  measures  were  obviously  calculated  to 
humble  and  degrade  the  Romans;  and  but  for  the 
astonishing  rise  and  triumph  of  Constantine,  must  have 
opened  for  the  barbarians  of  the  North,  an  easy  access 
to  the  capital,  a  full  century  at  least  before  the  Goths 
ascended  it.  One  of  his  darling  objects  was  to  rival  if 
not  eclipse  the  architectural  glories  of  Rome  by  those 
of  Nicomedia,  to  which  he  had  transferred  the  seat  of 
empire.  Except  in  the  twentieth  year  of  his  reign, 
when  he  celebrated  his  triumph,  it  is  extremely  doubt- 
ful, according  to  Gibbon,  whether  he  ever  visited  the 
ancient  capital;  and  even  then  the  aristocratic  deport- 
ment of  the  patricians,  and  the  familiarity  of  the  ple- 
beians, proved  so  insufferable  to  the  quondam  barbarian 


IMPERIAL  ROME.  199 

slave,  that  he  left,  after  a  stay  of  scarcely  two  months, 
and  without,  even  waiting  to  assume  the  consulship, 
as  he  had  intended. 

''This  dislike,"  says  Gibbon,  "was  not  the  effect  of 
caprice,  but  the  result  of  the  most  artful  policy.  That 
crafty  prince  had  framed  a  new  system  of  imperial 
government,  and  as  the  image  of  the  old  constitution 
was  religiously  preserved  in  the  senate,  he  resolved  to 
deprive  that  order  of  its  small  remains  of  power  and 
consideration.  As  the  sovereign  of  Italy,  Maximian 
was  entrusted  with  the  execution  of  this  design,  and 
the  task  was  perfectly  suited  to  his  cruel  temper. 

"The  most  illustrious  members  of  the  senate,  whom 
Diocletian  always  affected  to  esteem,  were  involved  by 
his  colleague  in  the  accusation  of  imaginary  plots;  and 
the  possession  of  an  elegant  villa,  or  a  well  cultivated 
estate,  was  interpreted  as  a  convincing  evidence  of 
guilt.  The  camp  of  the  Praetorians,  which  had  ao 
long  oppressed,  began  to  protect  the  majesty  of  Rome; 
by  the  prudent  measures  of  Diocletian,  their  numbers 
were  insensibly  reduced,  their  privileges  abolished,  and 
their  place  supplied  by  two  fathful  legions  of  Illyricum. 
They  were  veteran  corps,  recruited  from  the  barbari- 
ans and  semi  barbarians  of  the  frontier.  Each  of  them 
was  six  hundred  strong. 

But  the  most  fatal  though  secret  wound  which  the 
senate  received  from  the  hands  of  Diocletian  and  Max- 
imian, was  inflicted  by  the  inevitable  operation  of 
their  absence.  As  long  as  the  emperors  resided  ml 
Rome  that  assembly  might  be  oppressed,  but  it  could 
scarcely  be  neglected.  The  successors  of  Aagtisltui 
exercised  the  power  of  dictating  whatever  laws  their 
wisdom  or  caprice  might  suggest;  but  those  laws  ^ 


200  THE  FIRST  THREE   CENTURIES. 

ratified  by  the  sanction  of  the  senate.  The  model  of 
ancient  freedom  was  preserved  in  its  deliberations  and 
decrees,  and  wise  princes,  who  respected  the  prejudices 
of  the  Roman  people,  were  in  some  measure  obliged  to 
assume  the  language  and  behaviour  suitable  to  the 
general  and  first  magistrate  of  the  republic.  But  Dio- 
cletian and  his  subalterns,  fixing  their  residence  in 
distant  provinces,  threw  off  the  dissimulation  that  had 
been  recommended  by  Augustus,  disdaining  to  go 
through  the  formality  of  submitting  their  measures  to 
effeminate  and  polished  nobles.  With  no  advisers  but 
military  adventurers,  barbarians  like  themselves,  by 
origin  and  dispositions,  they  governed  like  ruthless 
despots.  The  senate  of  Rome  losing  all  connection 
with  the  imperial  court  and  the  actual  constitution, 
was  left  a  venerable  but  useless  monument  of  antiquity 
on  the  Capitoline  hill. 

In  the  selection  of  colleagues  also,  by  Diocletian  in 
the  first  instance,  and  afterwards  by  Galerius,  we  trace 
the  working  of  the  same  principle.  Indeed,  the  latter 
less  crafty  by  reason  of  his  savage  violence,  than  Dio- 
cletian, did  not  conceal  his  determination  to  extirpate 
the  senate  and  to  destroy  the  Roman  people  by  the 
sword;  then  to  transport  from  the  seven  hills  for  ever 
the  seat  and  regalia  of  the  empire,  which  was  thence- 
forth to  be  called  the  empire  of  Dacia,  in  honor  of  the 
country  from  which  he  and  his  colleagues  derived  their 
birth.  It  is  expressly  stated  by  the  best  history  of 
this  period,  that  a  profession  of  haired  of  the  Roman 
name  was  required  by  Diocletian  of  those  whom  he  in- 
vested with  the  purple. 

The  first  of  these,  Maximian  Herculius,  was  a  Da- 
cian  peasant  from  the  neighborhood  of  Sirnium,  the 
Ladantius.  Gibbon, 


IMPERIAL  ROME.  201 

same  district  which  had  produced  Aurelian,  and  after- 
wards Galerius,  and  his  kinsman  and  adopted  son, 
Daza,  or  Maximin. 

"Ignorant  of  letters,"  says  Gibbon,  "careless  of 
laws,  the  rusticity  of  Maximian's  appearance  and  man- 
ners still  betrayed  in  the  most  elevated  form  the  mean- 
ness of  his  extraction.  War  was  the  only  art  that  he 
professed.  Insensible  to  pity  and  fearless  of  conse- 
quences, he  was  the  ready  instrument  of  every  act  of 
cruelty  which  the  policy  of  his  artful  manager,  Diocle- 
tian, found  it  expedient  at  once  to  suggest  and  dis- 
claim." 

'*In  describing  the  country,  extraction,  and  man- 
ners of  Herculius,  the  surname  which  Maximian  as- 
sumed, we  have  already  delineated  those  of  Galerius." 
says  the  same  historian.  "In  him,"  according  to  one 
of  his  contemporaries,  "there  was  an  inbred  barbansm 
and  a  savage  ferocity  altogether  alien  to  the  Roman 
blood.  A  thing  not  surprising  since  his  mother  was 
from  beyond  the  Danube,  whence  her  clan,  her  tribe, 
had  been  driven  across  the  river  into  the  second  Dacta 
by  an  inroad  of  the  Carpi."  In  his  earlier  days  he 
herded  cattle  in  the  forests  and  the  wilderness,  and 
thence  took  pride  in  the  title  of  Armentariiisor  the 
herdsman;  nor  did  his  deportment  and  policy  when 
emperor  in  any  respect  belie  the  epithet.  He  detested 
letters,  of  which  he  had  not  the  slightest  tincture; 
enormous  bears  were  his  favorite  companions;  and, 
whenever  he  feasted,  it  was  his  delight  to  contemplate 
the  gore  and  the  agonies  of  the  human  beings  whom 
they  devoured  for  his  gratification,  while  he  was  In- 
dulging in  pleasures  of  the  table  to  the  most  gluttonous 
excess. 


202  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES. 

Licinius  and  Daza,  to  whom  he  gave  his  own  sur- 
name of  Maximian  or  Maximin,  were  selected  by  him 
for  the  imperial  dignity,  because  of  their  congenial 
origin  and  dispositions.  Like  himself,  Daza  had 
tended  cattle  in  his  youih;  and  when  invested  with 
the  purple  he  was  sent  as  Caesar,  or  subaltern-emperor, 
over  the  East.  He  governed  its  refined  and  effemi- 
nate population  like  a  herdsman  treating  his  subjects, 
not  like  Roman  citizens,  but  like  cattle.  In  short, 
Constantius  Chlorus  was  the  only  Roman  of  the  seven 
or  eight  emperors  who  ravaged  the  unfortunate  em- 
pire in  detail  during  this  period,  and  his  promotion  to 
the  rank  of  Caesar  was  like  a  mockery,  or  a  plan  to 
get  rid  of  him,  since  Britain,  the  province  they  as- 
signed him,  had  been  long  poSvSessed  by  a  bold  adven- 
turer, who  had  not  only  defied  the  united  forces  of 
Diocletian  and  Maximian,  but  had  compelled  them  to 
asknowledge  his  title  of  Augustus. 

One  of  the  most  ruinous  consequences  of  Diocletian's 
system  was  the  enormous  increase  of  the  military  force 
at  the  same  time  that  the  resources  of  the  empire  were, 
as  we  have  already  seen,  almost  totally  exhausted.  It 
was  the  ambition  of  each  of  the  four,  at  another  time 
of  the  six,  at  another  of  seven  or  eight  emperors,  to 
have  armies  more  numerous  than  their  colleagues,  or 
even  than  any  of  the  princes  who  had  reigned  over  the 
empire  when  undivided  and  in  its  prime. 

"Thus it  came  to  pass,"  says  a  writer  of  that  day 
"that  those  who  were  quartered  on  the  taxes  outnum- 
bered those  who  were  to  pay  them;  so  that  the  hus- 
bandmen and  farmers,  overpowered  and  consumed  by 
enormous  exactions,  forsook  their  homesteads;  and  the 
fields  which  their  industry  had  tilled,  reverted   to  the 

Gibbon. 


IMPERIAL  ROME.  20t 

wilderness.  And  that  no  district  might  escape  the 
general  misery,  each  province  was  carved  out  into  a 
vast  number  of  small  departments,  and  to  each  of  these 
were  appointed  presidents,  commissioners,  inspectors 
of  taxation  besides  other  officials  without  end;  whose 
functions  consisted  exclusively,  in  exhausting  and 
harassing  the  ill-fated  population  by  every  species  of 
rapacity,  and  in  embittering  rapacity  by  insult.  More 
like  merciless  invaders  than  officers  of  the  com- 
monwealth, they  seized  upon  the  standing  crops,  num- 
bered the  cattle,  sheep,  domestic  animals,  and  even  the 
vines  and  fruit  trees  with  a  view  to  the  levying  a  tax 
upon  each  of  all  these  things.  In  town  and  country 
the  inhabitants  were  mustered;  and  family,  with  all  its 
members  and  dependents,  being  obliged  to  stand  in 
separate  droves,  till  they  were  counted  like  .so  many 
head  of  cattle.  No  infirmity  of  age  or  sickness  could 
entitle  to  exemption.  The  lanquishing.  the  disabled 
and  the  bed-ridden,  were  dragged  out  and  numbered  in 
the  poll-tax  roll,  and  the  proctor,  in  order  to  swell  the 
list  added  to  childhood  the  years  which  he  subtracted 
from  decrepitude.  Children  were  put  to  the  torture 
before  the  eyes  of  their  parents;  matrons,  in  the  pret- 
ence of  their  husbands,  to  force  a  confession  of  pro* 
perty  to  the  full  amount .  Those  who  were  not  mar- 
ried, and  had  no  children  suffered  the  torment  of  the 
rack  till  they  confessed  to  an  amount  beyond  the  truth 
in  order  to  escape  from  torment.  Grief  and  lamenta- 
tion filled  every  place.  What  the  Romans  had  been 
of  old  accustomed  to  practice  on  their  vanquished 
enemies,  they  were  now  doomed  to  suffer  at  the  hands  of 
barbarian  emperors,  who  were  determined  to  retaliate 
upon  the  Roman  race,  the  self-same  cruelties  and  ex- 


204  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES. 

actions  which  their  own  Dacian  sires  had  been  made  to 
endure  again  and  again,  particularly  by  Trajan, 

Each  division  of  tax-gatherers  was  followed  by  a 
train  of  supervisors,  who  never  failed  to  increase  the 
amount  already  rated,  no  matter  how  exorbitant  that 
rate  might  be,  lest  they  might  seem  wanting  in  zeal  in 
his  service,  or  to  have  been  commissioned  to  no  pur- 
pose. Meanwhile,  the  flocks  and  herds  dwindled,  and 
the  human  race  disappeared.  A  tax  was  levied  on  the 
dead,  so  that  even  in  the  sepulchre  there  was  no  pos- 
sibility of  escape.  Few  but  mendicants  remained,  and 
that  the  empire  might  not  be  disgraced  by  the  paupers 
created  by  misrule,  crowds  of  miserable  wretches  were 
carried  out  to  sea  in  ships  and  drowned,  under  the 
pretense  of  punishing  them  for  feigning  poverty,  in 
order  to  escape  the  tax.. 

The  indignities  and  insults  with  which  females  of 
the  Roman  race,  especially  those  of  the  higher  ranks, 
were  treated  by  these  barbarian  despots,  was  such  as 
not  to  admit  of  description,  further  than  to  state  that 
they  were  deficient  in  nothing  that  could  be  imagined 
by  hacknied  panders,  and  perpetrated  by  brutality, 
and,  that  the  same  license  which  was  practiced  by  the 
emperors,  they  permitted  indiscriminately  to  their  fol- 
lowers and  soldiery.  They  even  cheered  on  their  bar- 
barians, whom  they  were  ever  loading  with  riches  and 
titles,  to  every  species  of  rapacity  and  outrage;  and  if 
the  vilest  of  these  military  ruflians  demanded  the 
proudest  heiress,  the  consequence  of  a  refusal  was  sure 
to  be  an  imperial  mandate  to  her  parents  to  choose  be- 
tween instant  execution  and  a  Dacian  son-in-law;  for 
these  courtiers  and  body-guards  were  for  the  most 
part  composed  of  vagabond  Goths,  who  having  been 


IMPERIAL  ROME.  206 

expelled,  or  escaping  from  their  own  countrymen,  had 
been  received  into  the  pay  of  the  empire:  "That  after 
having  disqualified  themselves,"  concludes  Lactantius, 
*'to  be  even  slaves  to  barbarians,  they  might  become 
masters  and  tyrants  of  Romans." 

But  the  darkest  of  all  horrors  that  brooded  on  the 
Roman  world,  and  that  one  which  gav«  the  air  of  so 
many  judgments  to  all  the  rest,  were  the  persecu- 
tions— barbarous  and  unrelenting — with  which  the  em- 
perors, the  magistrates,  and  every  order  of  the  popu- 
lation, had  continued  to  pursue  for  so  many  centuries 
and  to  torment  with  ten-fold  fury  at  this  junction,  the 
beneficent  and  unoffending  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Impossible  that  empire  <?ould  long  exist  in  which 
one-half  of  the  people,  demented  by  fanaticism,  was 
let  loose  against  the  other  half,  and  hallooed  on  to 
every  species  of  outrage  against  property  and  life,  by 
those  who,  as  guardians  of  the  commonwealth,  were 
bound  not  only  by  justice,  but  by  policy,  to  repress, 
instead  of  fomenting  anarchy.  Hence  we  learn  from 
Eusebius,  that  during  the  whole  ten  yeurs*  persecu- 
tion, the  empire  was  torn  asunder  and  subjected  to  al 
the  worst  grievances  of  civil  war. 

"The  sea."  he  says,  "was  impassible  to  those  who 
made  voyages  over  it;  neither  could  any  person  arrive 
at  any  port,  whatsoever,  but  they  must  endure  all 
.sorts  of  scourges,  be  tormented,  have  their  sides  torn 
with  nails,  and  be  interrogated  by  their  undergoing 
all  sorts  of  tortures,  whether,  they  came  from  the 
enemy's  country,  and  at  last  they  underwent  the  puo* 
ishment  of  crucifixion  or  were  burned  to  death. 

Famine,  pestilence,  and  the  incessant  fear  of  inva- 
sion were  superadded  to  these  miseries,  while  all  the 

Euubius. 


206  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES. 

social  bonds  and  the  very  instincts  of  humanity  were 
thus  destroyed,  the  public  resources  wasted,  the  most 
virtuous  and  benevolent  members  of  the  community, 
with  its  bravest  defenders  even  in  the  legions,  cut 
down  and  massacred  in  thousands,  not  by  a  foreign 
enemy,  but  by  the  sword  of  anti  christian  ferocity,  it 
was  but  too  manifest  that  the  organization  of  the 
mighty  Colossus  was  dissolved  already  and  that  it  was 
about  to  become  an  easy  prey  to  the  barbarians  hover- 
ing round  it  on  all  sides. 

THE   SOI.DIER    MARTYRS. 

The  Christians,  who  abounded  in  the  Roman  armies, 
had  been  the  first  to  experience  the  persecuting  fury 
of  Diocletian  and  his  colleagues,  particularly  of 
Valerius,  who,  finding  that  neither  the  fear  of  losing 
their  commissions,  or  of  being  disbanded,  the  penalties, 
first  resorted  to,  nor  even  wholesale  slaughter,  as  in 
the  instance  of  the  Theban  legion  could  in  any  degree 
deter  them  from  Christianity  made  up  his  mind  at 
once  to  chastise  and  subdue  their  obstinacy,  by  doom- 
ing them  to  ignominious  and  exhausting  labors. 

"With  this  view,"  according  to  the  Acts  of  Mar- 
cellinus,  "he  withdrew  all  the  Christian  soldiers 
whether  of  Roman  or  foreign  extraction  from  the 
ranks,  and  condemned  some  of  them  to  mines,  others 
to  the  sand  crypts  to  raise  materials  for  the  con- 
struction of  the  immense  baths,  which  he  was 
preparing  to  build  in  Rome,  with  a  view  to  flatter  his 
adopted  father,  Diocletian,  to  whom  he  dedicated 
them.  According  to  the  provisions  of  the  Roman  law, 
such  punishments  were  usually  reserved  for  the  most 
sordid  delinquents;  and  nothing  more  forlorn  than  the 
condition  of  those  engaged  in  them  can  be  conceived. 


THE  SOLDIER  MARTYRS,  JOT 

The  soldiers  of  the  Theban  legion  formed  one  of  the 
noblest  bands  of  the  Christian  martyrs.     Diocletian  in 
J;he  beginning  of  his  reign,  employed  many  Christians 
near  his  own  person,  and  in  posts  of  trust  and  import- 
ance   as    Eusebius    assures    us.      Yet    even    private 
governors  and  the  giddy  populace,  were  at  liberty  to 
indulge  the  blindest   passion  and    fury    against    the 
servants  of  Christ;  and  Maximian,  on  certain  extra- 
ordinary occasions  stained  his  progress  with  the  blood 
of   many  martyrs.     The  Theban  legion  was  one  of 
those  sent  by  Diocletian  out  of  the  East  to  compose 
his  army  for  his  expedition  into  Gaul.     Maximian  in 
crossing  the  Alps  made  a  halt  with  his  army  some  days, 
that   the   soldiers   might    repose  themselves  in  their 
tedious   march,   while    some    detachments    filed    off 
towards  Triers.      They  arrived  at  Octodurum,  at  that 
time  a  considerable  city  on  the  Rhone,  above  the  lake 
of  Geneva,    now  a   village  called    Martignac   in   the 
Valais.      Here    Maximian    issued   an  order   that  the 
whole  army  should  Join   in  offering  sacrifice  to  the 
gods  for  the  success  of  their  expedition.     The  Theban 
legion  hereupon  withdrew  itself,  and  encamped  near 
Agaunum,  now  called  St.  Maurice,  three  leagues  from 
Octodurum.     The  emperor  .sent  them  repeated   orders 
to  return  to  the  camp,  and  join  in  the  sacrifices,  and 
upon  their  constant  and  unanimous  refusal  he  com- 
manded  them  to  be  decimated.      Thus  every   tenth 
man  was  put  to  death,  according  as   the  lot  fell:  the 
rest  exhorting  one  another  all  the  while  to  persever- 
ance.      After    the    first    decimation,    a    fccond   was 
commanded,    unless    the  soldiers  obeyed   the  orders 
given;  but  they  cried  out  over  their  whole  camp  that 
they  preferred  much  to  suffer  death  than  to  deny  the 


208  THE  FIRST  THREE   CENTURIES. 

faith.  They  were  especially  encouraged  by  three 
principal  officers,  SS.  Maurice,  Exuperius,  and  Can- 
didus. 

The  emperor  made  fresh  threats  that  they  confided 
in  vain  in  their  multitude,  and  that  if  they  persisted  in 
their  disobedience  not  a  man  among  them  should 
escape  death.  The  legion,  by  the  advice  of  their  gen- 
erous leaders,  answered  him  by  a  dutiful  remonstrance, 
the  substance  of  which  was  as  follows:  "We  are  your 
soldiers,  but  are  the  servants  of  the  true  God.  We 
owe  you  military  service  and  obedience,  but  we  cannot 
renounce  Him  who  is  our  Creator  and  Master,  and  also 
yours,  even  whilst  you  reject  Him.  In  all  things  that 
are  not  against  His  will,  we  most  willingly  obey  you, 
as  we  have  done  hitherto.  We  readily  oppose  all  your 
enemies,  whoever  they  are,  but  we  cannot  dip  our 
hands  in  the  blood  of  innocent  persons.  We  have 
taken  an  oath  to  God  before  we  took  one  to  you.  You 
can  place  no  confidence  in  our  second  oath  should  we 
violate  the  first.  You  command  us  to  punish  the 
Christians;  behold,  we  are  all  such.  We  confess  God 
the  Father,  Author  of  all  things,  and  His  Son,  Jesus 
Christ.  We  have  seen  our  companions  slain  without 
lamenting  them,  and  we  rejoice  at  their  honor. 
Neither  this  extremity  to  which  we  are  reduced,  nor 
any  provocation,  has  tempted  us  to  revolt.  We  have 
arms  in  our  hands,  but  we  do  not  resist,  because  we 
had  rather  die  innocent  than  live  by  any  sin." 

This  legion  consisted  of  about  six  thousand  six  hun- 
dred men,  who  were  all  well  armed,  and  might  have 
sold  their  lives  very  dearly.  But  they  had  learned  to 
give  to  God  what  is  God's,  and  to  Caesar  what  is  Cae- 
sar's, and  they  showed  their  courage  more  in  dying 


THE  SOLDIER  MARTYRS.  209 

than  they  had  ever  done  in  the  most  hazardous  enter- 
prises. Maximian  having  no  hope  of  overcoming  their 
constancy,  commanded  his  whole  army  to  surround 
them  and  cut  them  to  pieces.  They  made  no  resist- 
ance, but  dropping  their  arms,  suffered  themselves  to 
be  put  to  death,  saying  nothing,  except  mutually  to  en- 
courage one  another,  and  not  one  out  of  so  great  a 
number  failed  in  courage  to  the  last.  The  ground  was 
covered  with  their  dead  bodies,  and  streams  of  blood 
flowed  on  every  side.  These  are  styled  by  Fortunatus, 
"The  Happy  Legion."  They  were  martyred  in  the 
year  286. 

The  Christian  soldiers  condemned  to  the  mines  were 
not  allowed  rest  or  intermission  from  toil.  They 
were  driven  to  work  with  the  lash,  till  at  last,  over- 
come with  the  intolerable  weight  of  their  afflictions, 
they  expired  in  the  midst  of  labor — but  to  them  death 
was  far  preferable  to  life.  The  tortures  endured  by 
three  Christian  soldiers  during  the  peisecuiijn  have 
been  accurately  described  by  eye  witnesses,  and  may 
be  taken  as  a  sample  of  what  happened  to  the  gener- 
ality of  their  companions  in  arms. 

The  first  of  them  being  placed  before  the  judge  and 
asked  his  name,  made  answer,  "I  am  a  Chiisiian.*' 
The  judge  rebuked  him  for  making  mention  of  that 
impious  profession,  and  ihe  second  time  commanded 
him  to  tell  his  name.  A  second  time  the  veteran  re- 
plied: "I  am  a  Christian."  Then  the  judge  com- 
manded the  lictors  to  strike  him  on  the  j  4ws  heavily, 
repeating  whilst  they  struck  him.  "Answer  not  thus.** 
"My  name,"  observed  the  martyr,  \  have  told  you, 
but  if  it  be  the  name  given  me  by  my  parents  you 
wish  to  know,  it  is  Theraciis;  if  my  miliiary  name, 


210  THE  FIRST  THREE   CENTURIES. 

Victor."  When  every  stratagem  to  induce  the  aged 
Theracus  to  offer  sacrifice  to  the  idols  had  proved  un- 
availing he  was  commanded  to  be  stripped  and  beaten 
with  rods,  and  while  his  body  was  under  the  lictor's 
strokes,  he  said  to  the  judge,  that  he  felt  comforted 
by  his  wounds  and  rendered  more  and  more  confident 
in  the  name  of  the  I^ord  Jesus  Christ. 

The  second,  being  summoned  and  interrogated  as  to 
his  name,  replied:  "Christian  is  my  title  of  nobility; 
in  society,  I  am  called  Probus."  He  also,  on  refusing 
to  sacrifice,  was  stripped,  and  submitted  to  the  strokes 
of  the  lictors,  who  scourged  him  with  the  thongs  of  a 
rawhide. 

While  they  were  scourging  him  the  Centurion 
Demetrius  cried:  *'0  man,  see  how  the  ground  is 
weeping  with  your  blood ! "  '  *  My  body , ' '  said  Probus, 
"is  at  your  mercy,  but  these  stripes  are  to  me  as 
unguents."  As  the  scourging  still  continued,  "Well," 
said  the  judge,  "do  you  abandon  3  our  folly,  or  still 
persevere  in  your  obstinacy?"  "What  you  call  folly 
is  wisdom  in  the  Lord,"  was  the  martyr's  reply. 
**Turn  him  and  beat  him  on  the  stomach,"  said  the 
judge.  "O  Lord,  assist  Thy  servant,"  he  cried  while 
they  beat  him  in  this  position.  Then  the  judge  com- 
manded the  lictors  to  repeat  with  each  stroke,  "Where 
is  thy  helper?"  Probus  said,  "He  assists  me,  and 
will  assist  me;  and  through  His  aid,  I  disregard  your 
torments."  "Attend  to  your  carcass,  miserable 
wretch,"  cried  the  president,  "see  how  the  ground  is 
saturated  with  your  blood!"  "Know,"  replied  the 
martyr,  "that  my  soul  is  healed,  made  sound,  and 
filled  with  strength  in  proportion  as  my  body  suffers 
for  Christ's  sake."     "Chain  his  hands  and  feet,"  said 


THE  "SOLDIER  MARTYRS.  211 

the  president,  "throw  him  into  his  dungeon,  and  let 
no  one  go  near  to  give  him  any  comfort." 

When  the  third  was  interrogated  as  to  his  name,  he 
replied  to  the  same  effect  as  the  others,  that  he  was  a 
Christian,  but  that  his  ordinary  appellation  was 
Andronicus,  of  one  of  the  noblest  families  of  Ephesus. 
He  likewise  refused  to  sacrifice;  and  while  under  the 
hands  of  the  lictors,  the  president  said,  "Miserable 
youth,  are  you  dead  to  all  feeling,  or  why  do  you  not 
take  pity  on  your  body?"  And  when  the  martyr 
derided  this  pretended  compassion,  the  judge  desired 
the  lictors  to  fasten  an  instrument  of  torture  on  his 
mouth,  and  torture  him  energetically — ''Torquete  os 
ejus  for  titer  y  After  another  fit  of  scourging,  he  said, 
"Turn  him  and  lacerate  his  sides;"  and  again,  "Take 
that  piece  of  broken  pottery,  and  scrape  bis  wounds." 
"It  is  now,"  said  Andronicus,  when  they  had  done 
this,  "that  you  have  comforted  my  mangled  frame.*' 
"Chain  his  neck  to  his  feet,  and  keep  him  under 
guard,"  said  the  president.  And  this  closed  the  first 
trial  of  the  three  soldiers. 

Theracus  having  steadfastly  refused  to  sacrifice  on 
the  second  day's  trial,  and  instead  of  yielding  to  the 
persuasion  of  the  judge,  continued  to  glory  in  being  a 
Christian,  the  lictors  were  ordered  to  break  his  teeth. 
"Miserable  wretch,"  cried  the  judge,  "see  there  thy 
teeth  are  shattered;  have  mercy  on  thyself  "  * 'Never 
shall  you  persuade  me  to  sacrifice."  replied  Theracus, 
"though  you  cause  every  bone  in  my  body  to  be 
crushed."  And  when  he  had  .spoken  thus,  he  was 
silent.  Then  the  lictors  were  ordered  to  strike  him  on 
the  mouth,  saying  at  each  .stroke,  "Respond.*'  **My 
jaws,"  replied  the  aged  martyr,  "you  have  broken^ 


212  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES. 

how  can  I  answer?"  And  when  he  again  rejected  the 
entreaties  of  the  judge,  who  spared  no  arguments  to 
win  him  from  his  resolution,  the  executioners  brought 
burning  coals,  and  placed  them  by  order  of  the  judge 
on  the  palms  of  his  hands.  Then  Theracus  said,  "Thy 
temporal  fire  I  fear  not,  but  ihe  dread  of  eternal  fire 
preserves  me  from  yielding  to  your  demands.  Through 
the  divine  aid,  all  that  you  have  done  to  vanquish  my 
resolution  has  only  filled  me  with  new  strength." 
^'Suspend  him  on  high  by  the  feet,"  said  the  presi- 
dent, **and  create  a  dense,  fetid  smoke,  in  which  let 
him  hang  till  he  consents  to  sacrifice."  "What  care  I 
for  your  smoke,"  said  Theracus,  "who  have  despised 
your  fire?"  ''Bring  vinegar,  mixed  with  salt,"  said 
the  president,  "and  cast  it  into  his  nostrils,"  thus  also 
were  Probus  and  Andronicus  tormented,  and  with  the 
same  result. 

On  the  third  trial,  when  to  the  renewed  exhorta- 
tions and  arguments  of  the  judge,  it  was  replied  by 
Theracus  that  the  gods  of  which  he  spoke  were  re- 
served to  eternal  torments  with  those  who  served  them, 
the  judge  cried  out,  "Infamous  blasphemer,  be  silent; 
or  thinkest  thou  to  irritate  me  by  thy  impieties  so  that 
thou  mayest  escape  with  the  loss  of  thy  head?' '  "No, ' ' 
said  Theracus,  "for  this  would  only  be  a  compendium 
of  suffering,  whereas  I  am  anxious  for  protracted  ag- 
onies, that  my  faith  in  my  Saviour  may  be  increased." 
*'I  will  hav^e  thee  exterminated  bit  by  bit,"  said  the 
judge,  "and  have  the  fragments  of  thy  carcass  flung 
to  dogs,  so  that  your  vile  femak  votaries  may  not  be 
able  to  embalm  you  with  aromatics  or  unguents  as  you 
expect."  Then  the  lictors  were  ordered  to  crush  his 
face  with  blows,  and  to  cut  away  his  lips.     Whr^t  they 


THE  SOLDIER   MARTYRS.  213 

called  the  obelisks  were  then  placed  one  on  each  side 
of  his  mangled  face  and  ignited,  but  while  thus  tor- 
mented the  martyr  said,  *  Even  by  greater  torments 
than  these  you  shall  not  be  able  to  move  the  servant 
of  God  to  adore  ignominious  idols." 

'* Bring  the  shears,"  said  the  judge,  "and  cut  off  his 
skin,  and  shave  his  head  and  place  on  it  burning  coals 
of  fire."  * 'Though  you  cause  my  entire  body  to  be 
excoriated,  I  recede  not  from  my  God,  who  strength- 
ens me  to  withstand  thy  attacks."  "Bind  up  the  ob- 
elisks," said  the  president;  "make  them  red  hot,  and 
put  them  under  his  armpits."  And  while  Theracus 
was  suffering  this,  he  cried,  "Let  the  Lord  look  down 
and  judge."  "Of  what  Lord  speakest  thou,  accursed 
wretch?"  "The  Lord  whom  thou  knowest  not,"  said 
the  martyr,"  "who  rendereth  to  each  according  to  his 
deeds."  "Did  I  not  tell  thee,"  said  the  judge,  "that 
I  would  thus  exterminate  thy  carcass,  and  put  it  out 
of  the  power  of  thy  infamous  Christian  females  to  em- 
balm  thy  relics  in  fine  linen  and  with  perfumes;  for 
accursed  as  thou  art,  I  will  cause  thee  to  be  consumed, 
and  thy  ashes  given  to  the  winds."  "And  I  said  be- 
fore, and  now  repeat,"  said  Theracus,  "do  as  you  have 
a  mind,  for  power  is  given  to  you  in  this  life."  "Drag 
him  back  to  prison,"  said  the  judge,  "and  let  him  lie 
over  for  the  next  exhibition  of  wild  beasts.  Bring  up^ 
the  next." 

When  Probus  could  not  be  persuaded,  the  judge  or- 
dered flesh  that  had  been  immolated  and  other  offer- 
ings of  sacrifice  to  be  brought,  and  to  force  them  dowa 
his  throat.  "May  the  Lord  look  down,"  cried  the 
martyr,  "and  behold  from  his  throne  on  high  how  I 
suffer  violence."     **Now,  wretch,"  cried  the  judge^ 

Bartmius, 


214  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES. 

"see  how,  after  all  your  sufferings,  you  have  partaken 
of  the  sacrifice. ' '  '  'You  have  achieved  no  great  thing, ' ' 
replied  Probus,  *4n  resorting  to  force;  the  Lord  looks  to 
the  will, ' '  After  the  torment  of  the  obelisks,  they  took 
nails  red  hot  from  the  fire,  and  drove  them  through  his 
hands  in  derision  of  the  crucifixion.  "I  give  Thee 
thanks,  0  Lord,"  said  the  martyr,  "that  thou  hast 
vouchsafed  my  hands  should  suffer  in  Thy  name." 
"Many  torments  make  thee  vain,"  said  the  judge. 
"And  much  power  maketh  thee,  O  judge,  not  only 
foolish,  but  blind;  for  you  know  not  of  what  you  do." 
Then  the  liclors  were  bid  to  thrust  out  his  eyes  and 
cast  him  back  into  his  dungeon. 

"Bring  me  out  Andronicus,"  said  the  judge,  "He  is 
here  my  lord,"  said  the  centurion.  "Consult  for  your 
youth,  Andronicus,  and  sacrifice  to  the  gods,  like  a 
pious  man;  yield,  sacrifice  to  the  gods,  that  you  may 
be  set  free."  But  finding  that  these  instances  only 
excited  the  martyr's  contempt,  the  judge  in  his  rage 
resorted  to  new  experiments  of  the  most  exquisite 
cruelty,  and  when  the  martyr  triumphed  amidst  them 
all,  saying,  "I  possess  Christ  the  Son  of  God  within 
me,  and  despise  thee,"  he  cried  out,  "Wretch!  do  you 
not  know  that  we  have  the  Acts  of  this  malefactor, 
who  was  condemned  by  Pontius  Pilate."  "Hold," 
exclaimed  the  martyr,  "it  is  not  lawful  for  thee  to 
speak  irreverently  of  that  Sacred  Being."  Then  they 
took  meat  offerings  from  the  idol  altars  and  forced 
them  down  his  throat.  "Thrust  an  iron  into  his 
mouth,"  said  the  judge,  "crush  all  his  teeth;  pluck 
out  his  blasphemous  tongue;  reduce  it  to  ashes;  scat- 
ter it  far  and  wide,  lest  some  accomplices  of  his  im- 
piety, or  these  female  varlets,  pick  it  up,  and  guard  it 


THE  SOLDIER   MARTYRS,  215 

as  something  precious  and  sacred.  As  to  the  wretch 
himself,  let  him  be  kept  with  the  other  two,  for  the 
next  exhibition." 

All  the  soldiers  who  survived  the  completion  of  the 
baths  that  had  been  in  course  of  erection  for  seven 
years,  and  still  remained  unshaken  in  the  Christian 
profession,  were  led  out  of  the  city  to  a  place  near  the 
Salvian  springs,  called  ''Gutta  jugiter  mayiaiis;'"  and 
there,  in  a  small  plain  confined  by  hills,  were  put  to 
the  sword,  to  the  number  of  ten  thousand,  two  hun- 
dred and  three,  on  the  yth.  of  the  ides  of  July  A.  D. 
298. 

THE  FOURTH  CENTURY. 

THE  CIRCENSIAN  GAMES. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century,  the  church 
now  numbered  among  her  children,  many  of  the  best 
and  noblest  of  all  ranks,  and  if  it  should  continue  to 
gain  in  proportionate  numbers  from  the  ranks  of  idola- 
try, then,  the  destruction  of  this  latter  power  was  fast 
approaching.  The  Empress  Prisca,  wife  of  Diocletian 
and  her  daughter  Valeria,  the  wife  of  Galerius  were 
Christians.  The  highest  officers  of  the  Court,  such  as 
Dorotheus  and  Gorgonius,  and  magistrates  of  the  first 
rank,  (in  the  provinces,  but  not  in  Rome,)  made  pub- 
lic profession  of  the  Christian  faith.  The  old  orator- 
ies or  chapels,  had  become  too  small  for  the  number  of 
the  faithful,  and  in  every  city  (except  Rome)  others 
more  spacious  and  more  elegant  were  erected. 

Because  of  this  progress,  the  arch-enemy  of  Heaven 
was  excited  to  rally  and  rouse  up  all  his  forces  for  one 
more  assault,  vehement,  universal  and  not  to  be  re- 
laxed in,  while  a  vestige  of  the  Christian  religion  re- 
mained uncrushed. 


216  THE  FOURTH  CENTURY. 

Diocletian  who  had  set  himself  up,  under  the  title  of 
Jovius,  to  be  worshipped  as  the  supreme  God,  Maxim- 
ian  the  elder,  in  whom  all  were  commanded  to  believe 
that  the  god  Hercules  had  revealed  himself  for  the  de- 
fense and  adoration  of  the  empire;  Maximian  Galerius, 
another  Hercules,  with  his  kindred  deity,  Maximian 
Hercules,  or  Daza,  as  he  was  called  while  he  yet 
herded  cattle, — these,  with  Maxentius  were  the  chief 
agents  in  this  enterprise. 

Strictly  speaking,  this  war  of  extermination  against 
the  church  of  Christ,  was  proclaimed  at  Rome,  with  all 
the  suitable  formalities,  on  occasion  of  the  great  Cir- 
censian  games  which  were  opened  by  the  emperor 
Maximian  Hercules,  on  returning  from  Africa,  with 
more  than  ordinary  pomp. 

The  festival  commence  i  as  usual  on  the  Capitol,  by 
a  variety  of  sacrifices  and  religious  ceremonies;  and 
when  these  had  been  duly  performed,  the  entire  Roman 
state  and  people  commenced  to  move  through  the 
forum,  and  along,  the  way  of  triumphs  in  solemn  pro- 
cession, to  the  Circus  Maximus.  The  youth  and 
beauty  of  both  sexes,  the  tribes  of  the  ''gens  togata,'* 
the  senators  in  their  robes,  the  magistrates  in  their 
gorgeous  costumes  and  insignia  of  their  respective 
ofl&ces;  Augurs,  Haruspices,  Epuloues,  Quindecemviri, 
and  Augustals  according  to  their  colleges;  the  Am- 
barvales  crowned  with  ears  of  corn;  the  Curiones, 
Fecials,  and  Titienses,  according  to  their  companies; 
the  Rex  Sacraficulus,  or  King  of  Sacrifices;  the  P'la- 
mens  with  their  caps  or  fillets;  the  Flamen  Dialis  or 
priest  of  Jupiter,  distinguished  by  a  lictor,  curule 
chair,  and  toga  praetexta;  the  Flamen  of  Mars;  the 
Flamen  of  Quirinus;  the  Salii,  accoutred  with  sword, 
Tertullian, 


THE  CIRCENSIAN  GAMES.  217 

spear  and  buckler,  as  they  bounded  along;  the  Lu- 
percals,  priests  of  Pan,  in  three  divisions — Fabians, 
Quintilians,  and  Julians;  next  came  the  Palatii  and 
Privarii,  priests  of  Hercules,  instituted  by  Evander; 
the  priests  of  Cybele,  called  Corybantes,  making  a 
great  noise  with  drums  and  cymbals,  shouting,  danc 
ing,  and  beating  themselves  to  the  sound  of  a  flute. 
The  procession  closed  with  the  Vestal  Virgins,  an 
order  of  priestesses  derived  by  Numa  Pompilius  from 
Abba  Longa,  because  the  mother  of  Romulus  and 
Remus  had  been  a  Vestal. 

As  they  proceeded  through  the  forum,  along  the  Via 
Sacra,  all  the  way  to  the  Circus,  various  lites  and  sac- 
rifices continued  to  be  offered  upon  altars  erected  and 
lighted  up  on  either  side  of  the  entire  line  of  progress. 
When  arrived  in  the  Circus,  and  that  the  emperor, 
with  his  court,  the  nobles  with  their  attendants,  the 
knights  and  citizens,  were  stationed  in  their  appointed 
places  along  the  interminable  benches  strewed  with 
gorgeous  cushions,  and  rising,  tier  above  tier,  to  the 
rich  awning  that  shaded  them  from  the  sun,  the  gods 
of  Rome,  with  their  multifarious  symbols  and  regalia. 
were  bound  round  the  circus  to  the  sound  of  music, 
new  hecatombs  were  offered,  aud  then  they  commenced 
the  Circensian  sports. 

By  order  of  the  emperor,  a  great  quantity  of  large 
trees,  torn  up  by  the  roots,  were  transplanted 
into  the  midst  of  the  Circus.  The  spacious  and 
shady  forest  with  a  thousand  ostriches,  a  thousand 
stags,  a  thousand  fallow  deer,  a  thousand  wild  boars, 
and  all  this  variety  of  game  was  abandoned  to  the 
riotous  impetuosity  of  the  multitude.  Tha  tragedy  of 
the  succeeding  day  consisted  of  the  massacre  of  a  hun- 


218  THE  FOURTH  CENTURY, 

dred  lions,  an  equal  number  of  lionesses,  two  hundred 
leopards,  and  three  hundred  bears.  Besides  these, 
twenty  zebras  displayed  their  elegant  forms  and  varie- 
gated beauty  to  the  eyes  of  the  Roman  people;  ten 
elks,  and  as  many  cameleopards,  ^he  loftiest  and  most 
harmless  creatures  that  wander  over  the  plains  of  Sar- 
matia  and  Ethiopia  were  contrasted  with  thirty  Afri- 
can hyaenas  and  ten  Indian  tigers.  The  mailed  rhi- 
noceros, and  the  river  horse  with  a  variety  of  other 
singular  wild  beasts,  were  not  wanting  in  this  display 
of  savage  nature,  that  was  closed  by  a  majestic  troop 
of  thirty-two  elephants. 

Then  followed  contests  of  agility  and  strength — 
running,  leaping,  throwing  the  discus  or  quoit,  boxing 
with  gauntlets  embossed  with  iron  to  make  the  strokes 
more  severe,  wrestling  and  other  displays  of  gymnast- 
ics— so  called  because  the  champions  were  stripped  in 
these  exhibitions,  and  their  bodies  were  anointed  with 
a  glutinous  unguent  called  **ceroma,"  laid  on  by  the 
"aliptae,"  a  certain  class  of  slaves. 

The  chariot  and  horse-races,  as  crowning  the  climax 
of  ecstacy  for  the  Romans,  were  reserved  for  the  finale 
of  the  games.  From  the  morning  to  the  evening, 
careless  of  the  sun  or  of  the  rain,  the  spectators  re- 
mained in  eager  attention,  their  eyes  fixed  on  the 
horses  and  charioteers,  their  minds  agitated  with  hope 
and  fear  for  the  success  of  the  colors  that  they  espous- 
ed; and  the  happiness,  nay  the  very  existence  of  Rome 
and  the  empire  seemed  to  hang  on  the  event  of  every 
race.  The  charioteers,  a  class  of  beings  second  only 
to  the  immortal  gods  in  popular  estimation,  were  at 
this  time  divided  into  six  companies  called  factions, 
each  faction  distinguished  by  its  own  proper  color. 
Gibbon. 


THE  CIRCEMSIAN   GAMES.  219 

There  was  the  ''factio  alba''  or  the  whites;  the  ''fadio 
rusatd"  or  the  scarlets;  the  ''/actio veneta''  or  the  sky- 
blues;  the  ''prassinV  or  green  faction;  the  auratt  and 
the  purpuret  or  the  golden  and  purple  factions  added 
by  Domitian.  In  Rome  every  body  belonged  to  some 
one  or  other  of  these  factions,  with  high  and  low, 
among  the  females  as  well  as  among  the  men,  the  dis- 
cussion of  their  rival  merits  formed  an  inexhaustible 
source  of  broils  and  controversies,  not  unfrequently 
conducted  with  such  vivacity  that,  passing  from  criti- 
cism, chitchat,  and  arguments  to  handicufTs,  and  even 
to  deadly  weapons;  the  benches  of  the  Circus  from  end 
to  end,  became  the  scene  of  sanguinary  tumult  and 
massacre.  On  one  of  these  occasions  no  less  than 
thirty  thousand  people  are  said  to  have  lost  their  lives. 

It  was  on  the  15th  of  the  calends  of  May,  in  A.  D. 
303,  during  one  of  these  paroxysms  of  brutal  excite- 
ment, that  the  terrific  shout,  so  often  heard  in  circus 
and  amphitheatre  before,  resounded  from  the  infuri- 
ated multitude,  as  they  JObe  by  simultaneous  impulse. 
—  Away  with  the  Christians,"  was  twelve  limes  re- 
peated by  a  chorus  of  four  hundred  thousand 
bloodthirsty  voices.  This  was  followed  by  ten  rounds 
of  "Death  and  extermination  lo  the  Christians!" 
"Wherefore,"  condudts  the  Record,  "it  was  reported 
to  the  senate  by  luigenius  Hermogenianus,  the  Prae- 
torian prefect  that  a  persecution  against  the  Christians 
should  be  decreed;  and  persecution,"  says  the  .same 
document  "was  decreed  accordingly." 

Instead  of  attempting  any  detailed  de.scription  of  the 
scenes  that  followed  all  over  the  provinces  of  Maxi- 
mian,  and  over  the  wliole  Roman  world  after  the  edict 
of  Nicomedia,  the  following  passage  on  the  subject  is 
quoted  from  St.  Basil: 


220  THE  FOURTH  CENTURY. 

"The  houses  of  the  Christians  were  wrecked,  and 
laid  in  ruins;  their  goods  became  the  prey  of  rapine, 
their  bodies  of  the  ferocious  lictors,  who  tore  them  like 
wild  beasts,  dragging  their  matrons  by  the  hair  along 
the  streets,  callous  alike  to  the  claims  of  the  aged,  or 
of  those  still  in  tender  years.  The  innocent  were  sub- 
mitted to  torments  usually  reserved  only  for  the 
blackest  criminals.  The  dungeons  were  crammed  with 
the  inmates  of  the  Christian  homes  that  now  lay 
desolate;  and  the  trackless  desert  and  the  forest  cave 
were  crowded  with  fugitives  whose  only  crime  was  the 
worship  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  house  of  prayer  was 
profaned  by  impious  hands;  the  most  holy  altars  were 
overturned;  hardly  any  place  was  left  for  the  sacrifice 
of  the  Mass;  all  was  profound  tribulation,  the  sacerdotal 
colleges  were  dispersed;  and  no  synod  or  council  could 
meet  because  of  the  terror  that  existed  every  where.'* 

From  Rome,  through  every  province,  city  and 
hamlet  of  the  empire,  this  frenzied  resolve  to  root  out 
and  exterminate  the  Christians  diffused  itself;  and 
during  the  course  of  ten  long  years  (the  blackest  in 
the  annals  of  a  wofully  perverted  race),  never  paused 
but  to  devise,  or  make  experiment  of,  some  new 
species  of  atrocity.  To  the  magistrates,  not  only  in 
cities  and  great  towns,  but  in  ever>-  petty  village  and 
country  place  there  was  given  the  most  despotic 
power,  and  unrestricted  license  to  plunder,  imprison, 
torture  and  destroy  the  Christians;  and  the  magistrates 
in  their  turn,  delegated  the  plentitude  of  their 
authority  in  this  behalf,  to  each  and  every  one  who 
chose  to  exercise  it;  **free  leave  being  granted  to  all 
persons  who  would  be  injurious  towards  them.  And 
moreover  it  was  proclaimed  to  the  multitude,"   says 


THE  CIRCENSIAN  GAMES  221 

the  martyr,  St.  Philias,  **that  no  one  should  have  any 
care  or  pity  for  us;  but  that  all  persons  should  so 
think  of,  and  behave  themselves  towards  us,  as  if  we 
were  no  longer  men." 

In  addition  to  these  efforts  of  physical  violence,  the 
most  infamous  forgeries  and  aspersions  were  resorted 
to,  in  order  to  foster  and  create  aversion  to  the  perse- 
cuted creed  Certain  Acts,  replete  with  the  most 
blasphemous  impieties,  having  been  concocted  with  all 
possible  ingenuity,  were  published  all  over  the  empire, 
with  a  mandate  lo  have  them  inscribed  on  bronze  tab- 
lets, and  posted  in  all  public  places,  both  in  town  and 
country.  Besides  this,  they  seized  certain  females  of 
abandoned  character,  and  by  menaces  and  bribtry.  in- 
duced them  to  make  pretended  confessions  corrobora- 
tive of  the  slanders  with  which  the  Christians  had 
been  constantly  assailed,  and  these  confessions,  to- 
gether with  the  Acts,  were  sent  to  all  school  masters 
and  teachers  of  youth,  with  the  injunction  to  have 
them  committed  to  memory  by  the  pupils,  and  made 
the  subject  of  declamaion  every  day,  *'so  that,"  says 
luisebius,  "the  boys  in  the  schools  had  in  their  mouths 
the  blasphemies  which  were  forged  against  us." 

In  fine,  so  utterly  impossible  did  it  appear  to  be, 
that  the  Christian  Church  could  any  longer  subsist,  or 
continue  in  any  manner  to  escape  being  totally  annihi- 
lated, that  in  the  security  and  unhesitating  anticipa- 
tion of  the  event,  inscriptions  were  set  up  in  various 
places,  to  commt-moratc  among  the  other  exploits  of 
the  emperors,  that  they  had  "destroyed  the  Christian 
name,"  and  had  not  left  a  single  vestige  or  "trace  of 
the  superstition  of  the  Christians." 

Far,  however,  from  realizing  these  anticipations,  in 


222  THE  FOURTH  CENTURY. 

themselves  so  natural,  these  mighty  efforts  to  destroy 
the  Church  of  Christ  only  served  to  prove  its  inde- 
structibility, to  augment  the  lustre  of  its  triumphs; 
and,  so  to  shatter  and  disable  the  empire  of  paganism, 
that  its  most  infatuated  votaries  could  not  help  per- 
ceiving that  it  was  fast  approaching  to  its  fall. 

As  to  the  numbers  who  were  massacred,  and  tor- 
tured to  death,  they  are  frequently  styled  by  Euse- 
bius,  "An  innumerable  company  throughout  every 
province."  In  the  Thebais  alone,  he  himself,  beheld 
during  a  succession  of  years,  ten,  twenty,  thirty,  sixty 
of  a  day  put  to  death;  "and  again,  at  another  time  a 
hundred  men,  together  with  very  small  children  and 
women  were  put  to  death  in  one  day,  being  condemned 
to  various  and  interchangeable  sorts  of  punishments; 
insomuch  that  the  executioner's  sword  became  blunt, 
and  being  rendered  unfit  for  use,  was  broken,  and  the 
the  executioners  themselves  being  tired,  succeeded  one 
another  by  turns.  At  which  time  also,  we  beheld  a 
most  admirable  ardor  of  rrind,  and  a  truly  divine 
strength  and  alacrity  in  those  who  believed  in  Christ; 
for  no  sooner  was  sentence  pronounced  against  the 
first,  but  others  ran  hastily  from  some  other  direction 
to  make  loud  profession  of  their  faith,  before  the 
judge's  "tribunal."  From  an  ancient  catalogue  pub- 
lished by  Popebrochius,  it  appears  that  in  thirty  days, 
15,000  were  put  to  death;  and  yet  we  find  Pope  Mar- 
cellus  making  a  new  division  of  parishes  in  Rome,  in 
order  to  meet  the  religious  exigencies  of  his  people 
who  thus  multiplied  beneath  the  sword.  The  same 
holy  pope  being  arrested,  was  obliged  to  work  in  the 
stables  of  the  Emperor  Maxentius  and  was  martyred 
A.  D.  309,  having  governed  the  Church,  one  year, 
seven  months,  and  thirty  days. 


PUNISHMENT  OF  THE  EMPERORS.  223 

The  iniquity  of  slaughtering  a  people  so  elevated 
above  humanity  by  their  virtues,  at  length,  not  only 
became  intolerable  to  the  heathens  but  ( as  would  seem 
from  what  is  so  confidently  narrated  by  contemporary 
writers)  wrung  tears  of  compassion  from  them.  Thus 
the  Christians  by  their  magnanimous  fortitude  ob- 
tained a  moral  triumph  over  the  minds  and  sympathies 
of  their  persecutors. 

PUNISHMENT   OF   THE   EMPERORS    DIOCLETIAN,  MAXI- 

MIAN,    MAXIMIN   AND   GALERIUS,   RESULTING 

IN   A   TRIUMPH    FOR    CHRISTIANITY. 

Not  one  of  the  persecuting  emperors  or  their  most 
zealous  underlings,  escaped  the  visible  strokes  of 
Divine  vengeance. 

Diocletian  was  consumed  by  a  noisome,  lingering 
malady,  and  died  mad. 

*'The  other  who  was  next  to  him  in  honor,*'  says 
Eusebius,  that  is  the  elder  Maximian,  '*put  an  end  to 
his  own  life  by  hanging  himself  agreeably  to  a  certain 
diabolical  prediction,  promising  him  that  fate  on  ac- 
count of  his  many  and  audacious  villainies." 

As  to  Maximin,  who  forged  the  calumnious  and 
blasphemous  Acts,  "being  tortured  with  most  grievous 
and  acute  pains,"  says  the  same  writer,  •*he  fell  upon 
his  face  on  the  ground,  and  was  destroyed  by  want  of 
food;  all  his  flesh  being  melted  away  by  an  invisible 
fire  sent  upon  him  from  heaven;  insomuch  that  when 
his  flesh  was  wholly  wasted  away,  the  entire  shape  and 
figure  of  his  former  beauty  quite  di.sappeared,  and  all 
that  was  left  of  him  was  his  parched  bones,  which 
looked  like  a  skeleton  that  had  been  long  dried.  So 
that  those  about  him  judged  his  body  to  be  nothing 
but  the  grave  of  the  soul   buried  in  a  carcass  already 


^24  THE  FOURTH  CENTURY. 

dead  and  decomposing.  And  when  the  violent  heat  of 
his  distemper  scorched  him  with  a  greater  vehemence, 
-even  to  the  very  marrow  of  his  bones,  his  e)  es  so  pro- 
truded that  he  became  blind.  After  all  this  he  yet 
drew  his  breath,  and  having  given  thanks  (to  the 
hand  that  smote  him)  and  made  his  confession  (like 
Antiochus)  to  tha  L/ord,  he  called  oa  death,  acknovv- 
edging  these  his  sufferings  due  for  his  contempt  and 
impiety  against  Christ." 

But,  as  Galerius  had  been  the  chief  instigator  of  the 
persecution,  upon  him  the  judgment  fell  heaviest. 
Lactantius  has  left  a  description  of  the  horrors  of  his 
being  eaten  alive  vSO  hideous  as  not  to  bear  transcrip- 
tion. Suffice  it  to  say  that  he  died  the  death  of  Herod, 
the  first  persecutor  of  Jesus  Christ.  '  'These  diseases, ' ' 
says  Eusebius,  "did  spread  incurably,  and  eat  their 
way  into  his  inmost  bowels,  from  which  were  generated 
an  unspeakable  multitude  of  worms,  and  a  most  noi- 
some stench  proceeded  therefrom;  for,  before  his  de- 
cease, the  whole  mass  of  flesh  upon  his  body  (by  rea- 
son of  the  abundance  of  food  he  devoured)  was  grown 
to  immense  fatness,  which  decomposing,  became  in- 
tolerable to  those  who  approached  him.  Some  physi- 
cians becoming  infected  by  the  poisonous  matter  issu- 
ing from  him,  died.  Others,  when  they  could  admin- 
ister no  remedy  (the  whole  fabric  of  his  body  being 
swelled  and  past  all  hopes  of  recovery)  by  his  orders, 
were  cruelly  slain. 

It  was  while  under  these  torments  that  he  published 
the  edict  given  by  Eusebius,  in  which  he  not  only  re- 
vokes the  decree  of  persecution,  and  grants  liberty  of 
conscience,  and  the  public  exercise  of  their  religion  to 
the  Christians,  but    implores  that  in  return  for  this 


PUNISHMENT  OF  THE  EMPERORS.  225 

boon,  they  "will  supplicate  their  God  for  his  recov- 
ery." In  like  matiner  was  Maximian,  who  in  his 
edict,  had  reviled  Christianity,  as  an  "accursed  impo- 
sition and  fanaticism,"  a  "pernicious  folly,"  a 
blind  error",  an  "execrable  superstition,"  compelled 
to  publish  the  formal  retractation  of  his  impious  and 
iniquitous  edicts. 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  tyrant's  decree  in 
favor  of  the  Christians,  translated  (^by  Eusebius)  from 
the  Latin,  (the  legal  dialect  of  the  Roman  Empire) 
into  Greek: — 

"Emperor  Caej-ar  Caius  Valerius  Maximinus  Ger- 
manicus,  Sarmaticus,  Pious,  Felicitous,  Invincible 
Augustus. 

"We  at  such  time  as  it  came  to  our  knowledge,  that 
in  pursuance  of  an  edict  issued  by  our  parents,  their 
most  sacred  majesties  Diocletian  and  Maximian, 
whereby  it  was  decreed,  that  the  assemblies  of  the 
Christians  should  be  utterly  aboli.shed,  many  extor- 
tions and  rapines  were  committed  by  the  BeneBciaiii 
(soldiers)  and  that  these  hardshijs  inflicted  on  our 
subjects  (whose  peace  and  quiet  is  our  choicest  care) 
had  increased  exceedingly;  their  goods  and  posse.ssions 
being  on  this  pretence  wasted;  by  our  letters  written 
last  year  to  our  presidents  of  every  province,  we  de- 
creed,— That  if  any  one  had  a  desire  to  follow  that 
sect,  or  adhere  to  the  prescriptions  of  that  religion,  he 
might  without  impediment,  persi.st  in  his  resolution, 
and  not  be  hindered  or  prohibited  by  any  man;  and 
that  every  one  should  freely  do  what  pleased  him  best, 
(with  respect  to  his  creed)  without  the  least  fearer 
suspicion. 

Hut  it  could  not  now  escape  our  knowledge,  that 


226  THE  FOURTH  CENTURY, 

some  of  our  judges  did  misapprehend  our  commands 
and  cause  our  (Christian)  subjects  to  distrust  and 
doubt  our  decrees,  and  made  them  more  slow  and 
fearful  in  the  resumption  of  those  religious  solemnities 
which  they  approved  of  as  best.  Now,  therefore  that 
all  jealousies,  ambiguities  and  fears  may  for  the  future 
be  removed,  we  have  decreed  that  this  our  edict  be 
published : — 

'*WHKRKBY  ALL  MEN  MAY  KNOW, 

''That  they  who  desire  to  follow  this  sect,  and 
religion  are  allowed  by  this  our  gracious  indulgence  to 
apply  themselves  to  that  religion  which  they  have 
usually  followed,  in  such  a  manner  as  is  acceptable 
and  pleasing  to  every  one  of  them.  Moreover,  we  do 
permit  them  to  rebuild  their  chapels.  Moreover, 
that  this  our  indulgence  may  appear  the  larger  and 
more  comprehensive  it  has  pleased  us  to  make  this 
sanction:  That  if  any  houses  or  estates  (which 
formerly  belonged  to  and  were  in  possession  of  the 
Christians)  and  are  by  the  edict  of  our  parents 
(Diocletian  and  Maximian)  devolved  to  the  right  of 
the  exchequer,  or  are  seized  upon  by  any  city,  or  sold, 
or  have  been  sold,  or  have  been  granted  or  bestowed 
upon  any  one  as  a  token  of  imperial  favor;  we  have 
decreed,  that  they  shall  be  restored  to  the  ancient 
tenure  and  possession  of  the  Christians." 

"These,"  pursued  Eusebius,  ''are  the  expressions 
of  the  tyrant,  which  came  from  him,  not  a  full  year 
after  those  edicts  he  had  published  against  the  Chris- 
tains,  and  caused  to  be  engraved  on  plates  of  brass, 
and  fixed  upon  the  pillars.  And  now  he,  who  but  a 
little  before  looked  upon  us  as  impious,  atheistical 
persons,  and  the  very  pest  of  mankind;  insomuch  that 


PUNISHMENT  OF  THE  EMPERORS,  227 

we  were  not  permitted  to  dwell  in  any  city,  country 
place,  or  even  in  the  deserts;  this  very  same  emperor 
enacted  and  promulgated  these  laws  and  edicts  in 
favor  of  the  Christians.'* 

Thus  it  was  that  Christianity  had  triumphed,  and 
achieved  its  own  emancipation,  by  the  invincible 
patience  of  the  martyrs,  aided  and  vindicated  by  so 
many  signal  interpositions  of  the  Divine  power  and 
approbation.  The  cross  was  already  the  symbol  of 
victory  before  it  was  assumed  by  Constantine.  Proof 
sufficient  had  already  been  afforded  that  the  church 
stood  in  no  need  of  earthly  patronage.  It  was  proved 
that  it  could  stand  without  the  empire;  these  solemn 
edicts  of  emancipation,  wrung  from  its  powerful  and 
deadly  enemies,  as  the  end  of  all  the  edicts  and  efforts 
of  three  centuries  to  crush  and  annihilate  it,  were 
proclamations  to  the  whole  world,  and  to  all  genera- 
tions, that  in  despite  of  the  empire,  with  all  its  terrors 
and  its  might,  that  church  could  subsist  and  flourish; 
and  that  even  "the  gates  of  hell  could  not  prevail 
against  it."  Instead  of  the  church  being  indebted  to 
the  empire,  the  empire  was  indebted  to  the  church. 
It  is  Gibbon  who  supplies  one  of  the  most  cogent 
proofs  of  this  position;  for  in  his  malicious  attempt  to 
disparage  the  motives  of  Constantine's  conversion,  his 
chief  argument  is  this: — that  a  statesman-like  view  of 
the  condition  of  the  empire,  and  of  his  own  po.sition  in 
it,  must  have  dictated  to  Constantine  the  sound  policy  of 
emhraciiij^  the  faith  of  Christ. 

CONSTANTINK  THE  GREAT. 

THK  BATTLE  OK  SAXA  RUBRA. 

In  the  year  A.  D.  306,  Constantine  was  emperor  of 
Britain,  Spain  and  Gaul;  Maxcntius.  the  son  of  Maxi- 


228  THE  FOURTH  CENTURY, 

mian  was  master  of  Rome  and  of  all  Italy,  and  of 
Africa.  ''Africa,"  says  Gibbon,  ''groaned  under  the 
dominion  of  a  tyrant,  as  contemptible  as  he  was 
odious."  "Maxentius  was  cruel,  rapacious  and 
profligate.  He  had  the  good  fortune  to  suppress  a 
slight  rebellion  in  Africa  The  governor  and  a  few 
adherents  had  been  guilty;  the  province  sufiFered  for 
their  crime.  The  flourishing  cities  of  Cirta  and 
Carthage,  and  the  whole  extent  of  the  fertile  country, 
were  wasted  by  fire  and  sword.  The  abuse  of  victory 
was  followed  by  the  abuse  of  law  and  justice." 

The  plight  to  which  he  had  reduced  the  capital  was 
no  less  deserving  of  compassion.  "It  is  impossible," 
says  Eusebius,  "to  enumerate  how  many  slaughters 
were  ^committed  those  that  were  senators,  to  the 
end  a  seizure  might  be  made  of  each  person's  estate; 
numbers  of  them  being  put  to  death,  at  different  times, 
for  various  crimes  framed  against  them  " 

Not  content  with  despoiling  the  nobility  of  their 
lives  and  properties,  Maxentius  rioted  in  the  dishonor 
of  their  families.  Any  show  of  opposition  to  his 
brutality,  on  the  part  of  husbands  or  of  parents,  pro- 
voked the  heaviest  vengeance.  The  dungeons  of 
Rome  were  crowded  with  the  most  dignified  matrons 
and  noblemen.  Spies  and  assas.sins  ranged  through 
all  Italy,  a  word,  a  look,  a  sigh  might  be  treason. 
The  people  fled  in  every  direction  to  the  most  seques- 
tered places,  and  whole  cities  and  districts  were  left 
desolate.  Famine  was  added  to  crown  these  scenes  of 
misery,  because  all  the  corn  was  seized  and  hoarded 
up  by  the  tyrant  for  his  meditated  attack  on  Gaul,  and 
in  his  desire  to  insure  success,  he  had  recourse  to  the 
most  atrocious  and  abominable  arts. 


CONSTANTINE  THE  GREAT.  229 

Such  was  the  miserable  state  of  the  Romans,  and  of 
the  empire  at  large,  when  a  standard  that  had  never 
appeared  before  at  the  head  of  the  legions,  was  seen 
advancing  over  the  summit  of  the  Cottian  Alps.  This 
was  the  Labarum.  It  is  thus  described  by  Eusebius, 
who  saw  it  with  his  own  eyes,  and  heard  its  history 
from  the  emperor  Constantine  himself. 

**A  very  long  spear/ ^  he  says,  "overlaid  with  gold, 
had  a  piece  like  sail-yard  laid  athwart  it,  framed  in 
fashion  of  a  cross.  Above,  on  the  very  top  of  the 
spear,  was  fixed  a  crown  made  up  of  precious  stones 
and  gold,  and  inserted  in  this  crown,  was  the  mono- 
gram or  symbol  of  the  saving  name;  to- wit,  two  Greek 
letters,  representing  the  name  of  Christ  (written  thus 
— Christos — in  Greek  character).  The  monogram,  or 
symbol,  being  formed  by  writing  the  first  two  letters, 
as  it  were,  in  a  cipher,  after  this  fashion  g3.  More- 
over from  the  cross-piece  fixed  athwart  the  spear, 
there  hung  a  banner  or  flag  of  purple  tissue,  studded 
all  over  with  precious  stones,  which  dazzled  the  eyes 
of  the  beholders  with  the  splendor  of  their  rays,  and, 
being  interwoven  with  much  gold,  presented  those 
who  viewed  it  with  an  inexpressible  kind  of  beauty. 
This  flag  hung  at  the  cross-piece,  had  a  length  exactly 
equal  to  its  breadth,  but  the  upright  staff  of  the  spear 
was  of  very  great  length,  and  on  its  upper  part,  under 
the  trophy  of  the  cross,  and  at  the  very  top  of  the  flag 
embroidered  with  a  variety  of  colors,  it  bore  a  golden 
picture,  or  medallion,  of  the  pious  emperor,  as  far  as 
his  breast,  and  also  medallion  of  his  children." 

"The  safety  of  the  Labarum,**  says  Gibbon,  **was 
entrusted  to  fifty  guards  of  approved  honor  and  fidel- 
ity; their  station  was  marked   by  honors  and  emolu* 


230  THE  FOURTH  CENTURY, 

inents,  and  some  fortunate  accident  soon  introduced  an 
opinion,  that  so  long  as  the  guards  of  the  Labarum 
were  engaged  in  the  execution  of  their  ofi&ce,  they  were 
secure  and  invulnerable  amidst  the  darts  of  the  enemy. 
The  most  formidable  enemies  of  Constantine  felt  and 
dreaded  the  power  of  this  consecrated  banner,  the  sight 
of  which,  in  the  distress  of  battle,  animated  the  sol- 
diers with  an  invincible  enthusiasm,  and  scattered  ter- 
ror and  dismay  through  the  ranks  of  the  adverse  le- 
gions. 

The  adoption  of  this  standard  by  Constantine,  while 
:Still  a  pagan,  occurred  as  follows: 

Perceiving  that  war  was  inevitable  with  Maxentius, 
who  had  made  all  his  preparations  for  invading  Gaul, 
Constantine  determined  to  anticipate  invasion  by  at- 
tacking the  tyrant  in  his  own  territory;  and  with  this 
view  prepared  to  lead  his  army  across  the  Alps.  But 
the  troops  and  his  most  experienced  officers  —"nearly 
all  his  counts  and  dukes,"  vSays  a  contemporary,  "not 
•only  murmured,  but  distinctly  declared  iheir  fears  that 
the  enterprise  was  desperate."  And  certainly  there 
were  fearful  odds  against  it.  The  troops  of  Maxen- 
tius, composed  in  great  part  of  his  father's  veterans, 
long  inured  to  war  and  victory,  and  of  the  praetorian 
guards,  amounted  to  170,000  foot  and  18,000  cavalry, 
or  nearly  200,000  men;  25,000  horse  and  foot,  accord- 
ing to  Lebeau,  40,000  according  to  Gibbon,  was  all 
that  Constantine  could  muster  for  this  expedition;  for 
this  was  all  that  could  be  spared  of  his  entire  force 
of  90,000  men,  after  placing  sufficient  garrisons  in 
Britain,  and  along  the  ever-menaced  frontier  of  the 
Rhine.  Thus,  according  to  one  account,  there  were 
eight  to  one;  according  to  the  most  partial  account, 
there  were  four  to  one  against  him. 


CONSTANTINE  THE  GREAT.  231 

Again,  the  emperor  Maximin,  in  the  East,  was  in 
league  with  Maxentius,  wko  also  calculated  in  pur- 
chasing the  favor  of  Licinius,  or  at  least  of  his  legions, 
who  might  either  invade  Gaul,  denuded  of  troops,  or 
pouring  in  through  the  Julian  Alps,  fall  on  the  rear  of 
Constantine,  in  case  he  should  attempt  to  march  on 
Rome.  Finally  two  other  emperors,  with  far  more 
numerous  armies  had  been  recently  defeated  in  this 
same  enterprise.  Galerius  had  not  been  able  to  force 
his  way  further  than  Narni,  in  the  Apennines,  and 
Severus,  in  attempting  to  form  the  siege  of  Rome,  had 
lost  his  army  with  his  life. 

It  was  in  this  crisis  of  his  affairs,  according  to 
Eusebius,  that  Constantine  bethought  of  addressing 
his  supplications  to  the  only  God  "entreating  Him, 
that  whoever  He  was,  He  would  manifest  Himself  to 
him,  and  reach  out  His  right  hand  to  his  assistance  in 
his  present  emergencies." 

"Whilst  the  emperor,"  continues  Eusebius.  "was 
putting  up  these  prayers  and  earnest  supplications  a 
most  wonderful  sign,  sent  from  God,  appeared;  which 
had  any  other  person  given  a  relation  of  it,  would  not 
easily  have  been  received  as  true.  But  since  the  vic- 
torious emperor  himself  told  it  to  us,  who  wrote  this 
history,  namely  at  such  time  as  we  were  vouchsafed 
his  intimacy  and  converse,  and  confirmed  his  relation 
with  an  oath,  who  will  hereafter  doubt  of  giving  credit 
to  his  narrative,  especially  since  its  truth  was  attested 
by  succeeding  events? 

"About  the  meridian  hours  of  the  &an,  when  the 
day  was  declining  towards  the  West,  he  said  he  saw, 
with  his  own  eyes,  the  trophy  of  the  cross  in  the 
heavens,  placed  over  the  sun,  made  up  of  light,  and 


232  THE  FOURTH  CENTURY, 

bearing   an    inscription   in   these  words: — 

' '  IN  THIS  CONQUER , " 

and  that  at  the  sight  thereof,  an  amazement 
seized  both  him  and  his  army  who  followed  him, 
as  he  was  on  his  march,  and  were  spectators  of  the 
portent." 

"Moreover  he  began  as  he  said,  to  ponder  with 
himself  what  the  meaning  of  this  apparition  should 
be;  but  whilst  he  was  revolving  it  in  his  mind,  and 
very  intent  upon  it,  night  cameon;  when,  as  he  slept, 
the  Christ  of  God  appeared  to  him,  bearing  that  sign 
which  had  been  shown  him  in  the  heavens;  and  order- 
ed him  to  get  a  standard  made  in  imitation  of  that 
which  he  had  seen,  and  use  it  as  a  salutary  defense  in 
his  engagements  with  his  enemies." 

The  breasts,  before  desponding,  now  bounded  with 
enthusiasm.  The  disproportion  of  their  numbers,  the 
fearful  odds  against  the  enterprise  were  forgotten;  and 
before  the  court  of  Maxentius  had  received  any  cer- 
tain intelligence  of  his  departure  from  the  banks  of  the 
Rhine,  Constantine  and  his  legions  were  winding  down 
the  Italian  side  of  Mont  Cenis,  with  the  lyabarum 
glittering  in  the  van. 

However,  the  city  of  Susa,  situated  at  the  foot  of 
the  mountain,  strongly  fortified  and  garrisoned,  block- 
ed up  the  pass,  and  prepared  to  check  all  further 
progress.  But  the  impatience  of  Constantine' s  troops 
disdained  the  tedious  forms  of  a  siege;  a  place  that 
seemed  impregnable  was  carried  in  the  first  assault; 
and,  having  saved  the  city  from  flames,  which  had 
spread  during  the  attack,  and  having  won  all  hearts 
by  his  clemency,  he  advanced  into  the  plains  of  Turin, 
where  he  was  expected  by  a  formidable  army  under 
the  lieutenants  of  Maxentius. 


CONSTANTINE    THE  GREAT.  233 

His  army  which  far  outnumbered  that  of  Con- 
stantine,  was  in  great  part  composed  of  heavy  cavalry 
of  a  most  formidable  description — the  horses  as  well  as 
the  men  being  clothed  in  complete  armor,  the  joints  of 
which  were  skillfully  adapted  to  the  motions  of  their 
bodies. 

"The  aspect  of  this  cavalry,"  says  Gibbon.  *'\vas 
formidable,  their  weight  almost  irresistible;  and  as  on 
this  occasion,  their  generals  had  drawn  them  up  in  a 
compact  column,  or  wedge  with  a  sharp  point,  and 
with  spreading  flanks,  they  flattered  themselves  that 
they  should  easily  break  and  trample  down  the  array 
of  Constantine." 

These  iron  masses  however,  were  scattered  and 
driven  under  the  walls  of  Turin,  where  few  of  them 
escaped  the  victors,  as  the  city  gates  were  closed 
against  them,  in  their  flight.  Turin  submitted  to  the 
conqueror,  as  did  the  other  towns  and  cities  between 
the  Alps  and  the  Po,  with  perhaps  the  exception  of 
Vercelli.  His  entrance  into  Milan  was  a  triumph  in 
which  all  orders  hailed  him  as  their  deliverer. 

From  Milan  to  Rome,  the  Erailian  and  Flaminian 
highways,  offered  an  easy  march  of  about  four  hun- 
dred miles;  but  though  Constantine  was  impatient  to 
encounter  the  tyrant,  he  prudently  directeii  his  opera- 
tions against  another  army  of  Maxentius,  who,  by 
their  strength  and  position,  might  cither  oppose  his 
progress,  or,  in  case  of  a  misfortune,  mi^ht  intercept 
his  retreat.  Ruricius  Pomponianus  n  general  distin- 
guished by  his  valor  and  ability,  had  under  his  com- 
mand the  city  of  Verona,  and  all  the  troops  that  were 
stationed  in  the  province  of  Venetia.  As  soon  as  he 
was  informed  that  Constantine  was  advancing  towards 


234  THE  FOURTH  CENTURY. 

him,  he  detached  a  large  body  of  cavalry,  which  was 
defeated  in  an  engagement  near  Brescia,  and  pursued 
by  the  Gallic  legions  as  far  as  the  gates  of  Verona. 

The- necessity,  the  importance  and  the  difficulties  of 
the  siege  of  the  city,  immediately  presented  themselves 
to  the  sagacious  mind  of  Constantine.  It  was  accessi- 
ble only  by  a  narrow  peninsula  towards  the  west,  as 
the  other  sides  were  surrounded  by  the  Adage,  a  rapid 
river  which  covered  the  province  of  Venetia,  whence 
the  besieged  derived  an  inexhaustible  supply  of  men 
and  provisions.  It  was  not  without  great  difficulty, 
and  after  several  fruitless  attempts,  that  Constantine 
found  means  to  pass  the  river  at  some  distance  above 
the  city,  and  in  a  place  where  the  torrent  was  less  vio- 
lent. He  then  encompassed  Verona  with  strong  lines, 
pushed  his  attacks  with  prudent  vigor,  and  repelled  a 
desperate  sally  of  Pomponianus.  That  intrepid  gen- 
eral, when  he  had  used  every  means  of  defense  that 
the  strength  of  the  place,  or  that  of  the  garrison  could 
afford,  secretly  escaped  from  Verona,  anxious  not  for 
his  own,  but  for  the  public  safety.  With  indefatiga- 
ble diligence  he  soon  collected  an  army,  sufficient 
either  to  meet  Constantine  in  the  field,  or  to  attack 
him  if  he  obstinately  remained  within  his  lines.  The 
emperor,  attentive  to  the  motions,  and  informed  of  the 
approach  of  so  formidable  an  enemy,  left  a  part  of  his 
legions  to  continue  the  operations  of  the  siege,  whilst, 
at  the  head  of  those  troops  on  whose  valor  and  fidelity 
he  more  particularly  depended,  he  advanced  in  person 
to  engage  the  general  of  Maxentius. 

The  army  of  Gaul  was  drawn  up  in  two  lines  ac- 
cording to  the  usual  practice  of  war;  but  their  experi- 
enced leader  perceiving  that  the  numbers  of  the  Ital- 
Gibbon, 


CONSTANTINE  THE  GREAT.  235 

ians  far  exceeded  his  own,  suddenly  changed  the 
position,  and  reducing  the  second,  extended  the  front 
of  his  first  line  to  a  just  proportion  to  that  of  the 
enemy.  Such  evolutions,  which  only  veteran  troops 
can  execute  without  confusion  in  a  moment  of  danger 
commonly  prove  decisive;  but  as  this  engagement 
began  towards  the  close  of  the  day;  and  was  contested 
with  great  obstinacy  during  the  whole  night,  there 
was  less  room  for  the  conduct  of  the  general  than  for 
the  courage  of  the  soldiers.  The  return  of  light  dis- 
played the  victory  of  Constantine,  and  a  field  of  car- 
nage with  many  thousands  of  the  vanquished.  Their 
general,  Pomponianus,  was  found  among  the  slain. 

"Great  feats  of  prowess,"  says  Muratori,  ** were  dis- 
played by  Constantine  in  this  battle — throwing  him- 
self, sword  in  hand,  into  the  thickest  melee  of  the 
fight;  so  that  after  the  victory,  his  officers  conjured 
him,  with  tears  in  their  eyes,  not  to  hazard  in  this 
manner,  a  life  of  so  much  importance."  It  would 
appear  that  Verona  held  out  for  some  time  after;  and  . 
it  is  uncertain  whether  it  was  taken  by  assault,  or  sur- 
rendered at  discretion.  The  lives  not  only  of  the 
inhabitants  but  of  the  garrison  were  spared.  But  as 
there  was  not  a  sufficiency  of  bonds  to  secure  the  latter, 
Constantine  ordered  them  to  be  confined  with  fetters 
made  out  of  their  own  swords.  It  would  ap|)ear  from 
a  hint  in  Nazarius,  that  Aquileia  and  Modena  also 
made  some  resistance. 

After  these  successes,  the  Labarum  advanced  to 
Rome.  But  instead  of  being  alarmed,  Maxentius  was 
delighted  at  this.  Confident  in  his  best  troops,  still 
far  outnumbering  the  advancing  afmy,  and  in  the 
impregnable  strength  of  the  city,  crowded  with  pro* 


236  THE  FOURTH  CENTURY. 

visions:  relying  also  not  a  little  on  those  heaps  of  ill- 
gotten  treasure  which  had  proved  so  irresistible  to  the 
legions  of  Severus,  and  Maximian;  he  rejoiced  at  see- 
ing his  rival  coming  so  completely  within  his  grasp. 
And  it  seems  obvious  that  he  might  have  not  only 
defied  the  invader,  but  ultimately  have  stripped  him  of 
all  his  laurels  and  hi  his  life,  had  he  merely  stood  on 
the  defensive.  To  have  formed  the  blockade  of  that 
boundlf ss  city  with  an  army  so  diminutive  would  have 
been  impossible;  any  attempt  to  carry  it  by  storm,  gar- 
risoned as  it  was  and  fortified  by  the  enormous  walls  so 
recently  built  by  Aurelian,  could  not  be  expected  to 
succeed;  and  for  Constantine,  retreat,  or  even  a  deci- 
sive check  must  have  proved  fatal.  But  contrary  to 
the  warnings  of  his  haruspices  and  magicians  who 
plied  their  infernal  arts  incessantly,  he  was,  as  it  were, 
driven  out  by  the  hootings  and  gibes  cast  at  him  by 
the  mobs  of  the  Coliseum  and  the  Circus,  and  forced 
to  meet  his  rival  in  the  field. 

It  would  seem  from  Lactantius  that  the  army  of 
Constantine  had  met  with  opposition  and  suffered  some 
reverses  on  approaching  the  vicinity  of  Rome,  and  he 
distinctly  states  that  Constantine  in  another  revelation 
made  to  him  the  night  before  the  battle  was  directed 
to  have  the  monogram,  or  sacred  symbol,  emblazoned 
upon  the  bucklers  and  arms  of  his  legionaries.  As 
the  first  rays  of  the  October  sun  gleamed  from  this 
mysterious  emblem — already  the  token  to  them  of  so 
many  victories— the  soldiers  of  the  lyabarum  were 
again  fired  with  an  ardor  that  could  not  be  resisted. 
The  iion  front  of  the  Maxentians,  extending  along  the 
plain  of  Saxa  Rubra  almost  as  far  as  the  eye  could 
reach,  and  their  deep  and  serried  battalions  rested  upon 


CONSTANTINE   THE  GREAT.  237 

the  right  bank  of  the  Tiber,  which  at  once  secured 
their  rear,  and  left  even  to  the  cowardly  no  alternative 
but  to  fight  desperately.  They  far  exceeded  the  army 
of  the  cross  in  number,  and  they  fought  with  such  un- 
flinching valor,  that  after  the  battle  the  bodies  of  the 
praetorians  were  found  upon  the  same  ground  on  which 
they  met  the  first  charge. 

But  wherevei  the  mystical  standard  appeared  there 
happened  a  rout  of  the  enemies,  and  a  pursuit  was 
made  by  those  who  had  gotten  the  better;  which,  when 
Constaniine  perceived,  in  whatever  place  he  saw  any 
part  of  the  army  hard  pressed  upon,  thither  he  ordered 
the  salutary  trophy  to  be  carried  as  some  efficacious 
talisman  to  procure  a  victory.  After  the  doing  w^here- 
of,  a  victory  followed  immediately;  in  regard  that 
strength  and  courage  were  by  a  divine  act  of  Provi- 
dence infustd  into  those  who  fought. 

The  victory  was  decisive.  Most  of  those  who  es- 
caped from  the  field  were  overwhelmed  in  the  Tiber 
by  the  sinking  or  breaking  up  of  a  bridge  of  boats 
which  had  been  constructed  either  at  or  near  the  Mil- 
vian  Bridge.  The  latter  had  been  probably  broken 
down  to  prevent  the  approach  of  Constantine  along 
the  Flaminian  road.  The  tyrant  persecutor  had  this 
bridge  of  boats  so  contrived  as  to  go  to  pieces  by  ma- 
chinery, under  the  management  of  artisans  stationed 
in  the  boats  for  that  purpose;  and  thus,  to  adopt  the 
idea  of  Kusebius,  who  heaid  the  narrative  he  gives  us 
from  Constantine  himself,  the  wretched  persecutor  of 
that  sacred  name,  which  was  to  his  rival  the  pledge  of 
victory,  was  taken  in  his  own  snare;  for  the  bridge 
having  been  loo.sened.  by  mistake  or  accident,  at  the 
very  time  Maxcntius  was  retreating  over  it  with  his 


238  THE  FOURTH  CENTURY. 

guards,  he   and   they    were  overwhelmed,  '  and  sank 
like  lead  in  the  deep  waters." 

"So  that  those  who  by  Divine  assistance  had  been 
victorious,"  he  continues,  "in  such  sort  as  did  the 
Israelites  of  old  under  Moses  might  have  taken  up  the 
expressions  of  that  canticle,  which  was  sung  over  the 
destruction  of  Pharaoh,  'We  will  sing  unto  the  Lord, 
for  He  hath  been  magnificently  glorified.  The  horse 
and  his  rider  hath  He  cast  into  the  deep.'  And  again, 
•Who  is  like  to  Thee,  O  Lord?  Thou  hast  been  glo- 
rified in  the  saints,  admirable  in  glories,  doing  won- 
ders.' " 

THE   TRIUMPH. 

The  triumph  so  called  from  Thriambos  the  Greek 
name  of  Bacchus,  who  is  said  to  have  been  the  inventor 
of  such  processions,  was  the  highest  aim  of  ambition 
among  the  heroes  of  Rome.  It  outshone  in  splendor 
all  the  other  spectacles  of  a  city,  so  justly  renowned 
for  pageantry. 

According  to  legal  usage,  no  general  was  entitled  to 
this  honor  who  had  not  vslain  five  thousand  enemies  of 
the  Republic  in  one  battle,  and  by  that  victory 
enlarged  its  territory.  But  whoever  had  the  fortune 
to  have  it  decreed  him,  advanced  with  the  first 
dawn  from  the  Vatican  fields  at  the  head  of  his 
companions  in  arms,  to  the  triumphal  gate.  Here, 
after  a  slight  refection,  he  was  invested  with 
the  triumphal  robes;  the  accustomed  rites  to  the 
deities  stationed  at  the  gate  were  performed;  and  then 
the  procession  moved  along  Via  Triumphalis,  the 
streets — ranged  with  altars  that  smoked  with  incense — 
being  thickly  strewn  with  flowers. 

First  went  musicians  of  various  kinds,   singing  and 


CONSTANTINE  THE  GREAT.  23^ 

playing  triumphal  songs;  next  were  led  the  oxen  to  be 
sacrificed,  having  their  horns  gilt,  and  their  heads 
adorned  with  fillets  and  garlands;  then  in  carriages 
were  brought  the  spoils  taken  from  the  enemy — 
statues,  pictures,  plate,  armor,  gold,  silver,  brass;  also 
golden  crowns,  and  other  gifts  sent  by  the  allied  and 
tributary  states.  The  titles  of  the  vanquished  nations 
were  inscribed  on  wooden  frames,  on  which  were  borne 
the  images  or  representations  of  the  conquered  coun- 
tries and  cities.  The  captive  leaders  and  princes 
followed  in  chains,  with  their  children,  kindred  and 
courtiers;  after  these  captives  came  the  lictors.  or 
executioners  (having  their  hatchets  or  fasces  wreathed 
in  laurel),  followed  by  a  great  company  of  musicians 
and  dancers,  dressed  like  satyrs,  and  wearing  golden 
crowns.  In  the  midst  of  them  was  one  Pantomime, 
clothed  in  female  garb,  whose  business  it  was,  with  his 
looks  and  gestures,  to  insult  the  vanquished.  Next 
followed  A  long  train  of  persons  carrying  perfumes. 
Then  came  the  conqueror,  dressed  in  purple  embroid- 
ered with  gold,  with  a  crown  of  laurel  on  his  head,  a 
branch  of  laurel  in  his  right  hand,  and  in  his  left  an 
ivory  sceptre  with  an  eagle  on  the  top.  His  face  was 
painted  with  vermillion,  in  like  manner  as  the  statue 
of  Jupiter  on  festival  days,  and  a  golden  ball  was 
suspended  from  his  neck  or  his  breast,  with  some 
amulet  in  it,  or  magical  preservative  against  envy. 
His  chariot,  in  which  he  stood  erect,  glittered  with 
gold,  was  adorned  with  ivory,  and  from  the  time, 
probably  of  the  Tarquins,  certainly  of  Camillus.  was 
usually  drawn  by  four  white  horses,  sometimes  by 
elephants,  or  singular  wild  animals.  His  children 
used  to  ride  in  the  chariot  along  with  him,  and  that  he 
Adams,    RoftMm  AntitfuitUs, 


240  THE  FO  UR  TH  CENTUR  Y. 

might  not  be  too  much  elated,  a  slave,  carrying  a 
golden  crown  sparkling  with  gems  crouched  behind 
him,  frequently  whispering  in  his  ear,  "' Remember  that 
thou  art  a  mari^ 

His  chariot  was  followed  by  the  consuls  and  senators 
on  foot;  his  legati  and  military  tribune,  or  staff  officers, 
commonly  rode  by  his  side.  The  victorious  army, 
horse  and  foot,  came  last  in  martial  array,  crowned 
with  laurel,  and  decorated  with  the  gifts  they  had  re- 
ceived for  their  valor,  chanting  their  own  praivSes,  and 
those  of  the  general,  whom  they  sometimes  assailed 
with  railleries.  Shouts  of  "/<?  Triurnphe!''  frequently 
bursting  from  the  warrior- ranks  and  chorused  by  my- 
riads of  the  Roman  people,  re  echoed  along  the  Tiber's 
banks,  among  the  valleys  of  the  seven  hills,  and 
seemed  to  shake  the  rock-built  Capitol  itself. 

Arrived  at  the  forum,  and  before  his  chariot  began 
to  climb  the  hill  of  triumphs,  through  the  crowded 
temples  that  rose  along  its  aclivities,  the  conqueror 
ordered  the  captive  kings  and  chieftains  of  the  van- 
quished nations,  to  be  led  away  by  the  executioners, 
and  put  to  death  in  the  Gemonium,  a  horrid  dungeon 
of  the  Mamertine  prison,  at  the  foot  of  the  Capitol  to 
the  right. 

On  reaching  the  temple  of  Jupiter,  it  was  the  usage 
for  him,  to  wait  till  informed  by  the  appointed  officers, 
that  his  sanguinary  orders  had  been  complied  with; 
and  then,  after  having  offered  up  a  prayer  of  thanks- 
giving to  Jupiter  and  the  other  gods  for  his  successes, 
he  commanded  the  victims,  which  were  always  white, 
from  the  pastures  of  the  Clitumnus,  to  be  sacrificed, 
and  deposited  his  golden  diadem  in  the  lap  of  Jove, 
to  whom  he  also  dedicated  a  great  portion  of  the 
spoils. 


CONSTANTINE  THE  GREAT.  241 

Unnumbered  were  the  pomps  of  this  descriptiom 
which  had  inflated  the  haughty  bosom  of  Rome  with 
arrogance,  from  the  day,  its  founder,  Romuhis,  had 
entered  it  with  captured  flocks  and  cattle — the  booty 
and  wailing  matrons  and  orphanage  of  Alba — until 
Diocletian  and  Maximian  had  triumphed  a  few  years 
previously,  amidst  blasphemies  against  the  Crucified, 
Nov.  2oth.  A.  D.  303. — and  shouts  for  the  blood  of 
the  Christians  in  which  even  the  "/(?  Triumphes''  were 
drowned.  But  of  all  the  triumphs  of  a  thousand  years 
none  could  be  compared  to  that  which  stood  prepared 
to  cross  the  Tiber  and  the  Campus  Martins,  in  the  year 
of  redemption  312,  just  as  the  first  dawn  after  the  bat- 
tle of  the  Labarum  at  Saxa  Rubra  was  lighting  up  the 
ridges  of  the  Sabine  and  Alban  mountains. 

"No  day,"  says  Nazarnus  quoted  by  Baronius,  "had 
ever  diffused  through  Rome  a  joy  so  well  founded  and 
overflowing;  nothing  in  the  immense  series  of  our  an- 
nals to  be  compared  to  the  exultation  of  that  triumph. 
True,  no  captive  princes  and  generals  were  driven  with 
mockeries,  and  in  fetters,  before  the  conqueror's  car; 
but  instead  of  these,  there  went  the  Roman  senators 
who  had  been  liberated  from  prison.  No  prisoners  of 
war  were  ordered  to  the  Mamertien  for  execution,  but 
men  who  had  filled  the  consulship  were  drawn  forth  to 
the  enjoyment  of  liberty,  from  where  they  lay  in  its 
dungeons  condemned  to  death.  Instead  of  foreign 
captives,  the  senate  and  the  Roman  people  restored  to 
liberty  adorned  the  procession;  and  instead  of  being 
enriched  with  spoils,  the  city  itself  gained  deliverance 
from  spoliation.  The  atrocious  crimes  that  had  so 
long  trampled  on  the  honor,  and  rioteil  in  every  excess 
at  the  expense  of  the  citizens,  were  as  if  dragged  like 


242  THE  FOURTH  CENTURY, 

captives  at  the  chariot  wheels  of  him  who  triumphed." 
The  destruction  of  the  Milvian  Bridge  had  obliged 
Constantine  to  encamp  on  the  Vatican  fields  beyond 
the  Tiber,  instead  of  entering  Rome  by  the  Flaminian 
Way  the  night  of  the  battle;  and  thus  the  Roman 
emperor  and  his  legions  were  compelled,  as  if,  by 
some  invisible  all-ruling  power,  to  carry  the  standard 
of  the  cross,  into  the  metropolis  of  paganism  by  that 
track,  and  no  other,  which  had  been  marked  out, 
from  time  immemorial,  by  the  senate  and  the  people, 
as  the  only  legitimate  way  of  triumphs.  Having 
offered  up  vows  at  the  tomb  of  St.  Peter — as  Eusebius 
tells  us — instead  of  sacrificing  to  the  idols,  according 
to  custom,  the  martial  procession  began  to  move  across 
the  Tiber,  into  the  plain  of  the  Campus  Martins. 

This  tract  of  level  ground,  expanding  like  an  arena 
from  the  Capitoline,  the  Quirinal  and  Pincian  hills,  to 
the  Tiber,  w^as  adorned  in  its  entire  extent '  with 
theatres,  hippodromes,  places  for  war  like  spectacles 
and  games,  with  temples  surrounded  with  evergreen 
groves,  and  interwoven  with  shady  walks,  and  velvet 
lawns;  while  monuments  and  trophies  of  snowy  white- 
ness, and  of  every  order,  lined  the  river  side  to  the 
water's  edge.  The  whole  was  populous  with  statues, 
inscribed  to  the  most  renowned  characters  in  the 
Roman  annals,  and  presented  a  scene  so  fascinating 
that  Strabo  tells  us,  "it  was  almost  impossible  to 
withdraw  one's  eyes  from  beholding  it."  But  tower- 
ing above  all,  like  an  Alp  of  marble,  rose  the  mausoleum 
or  tomb  of  Augustus  Caesar,  where  the  urns  of  the 
Julian  family  and  of  many  emperors  were  placed. 
When  any  of  them  was  to  be  deified,  or  added  to  the 
number  of  the  gods,  his  body  was  carried  with    great 


CONSTANTINE   THE   GREAT.  243 

pomp  and  ceremony  upon  a  couch  of  gold,  and  placed 
on  a  pile  of  odoriferous  wood  upon  its  summit;  and  as 
the  flame  began  to  ascend  towards  the  corse,  an  eagle, 
fastened  there  for  the  purpose,  was  permitted  to  take 
wing,  that  it  might  be  regarded  by  the  applauding 
multitude  as  the  genius  or  ''mens  divifiior''  of  the 
emperor  soaring  aloft  to  the  skies. 

Each  terrace  and  balcony,  and  veranda  of  this 
mighty  pile,  and  of  every  other  tomb,  colonnade,  and 
monument,  along  the  line  of  procession,  or  within 
view  of  it,  seemed  to  swarm  with  human  beings,  as 
the  glorious  sun  poured  his  orient  .'-plendors  over  the 
temples  and  tow^ers  of  the  Capitol,  across  the  adjacent 
plain.  All  Rome,  from  the  plebeian  to  the  Consular 
patrician,  and  of  every  age  and  sex.  went  forth  in 
gala  costume,  and  wnth  hilarity  of  look,  and  voice, 
and  feature,  that  radiated  from  the  heart.  Every  eye 
had  now  been  turned  for  some  minutes  to  the  gate  of 
triumph,  and  every  voice  was  hushed;  but  when  the 
bronze  portals  flew  open  with  a  sound,  the  instant 
they  were  struck  by  the  first  beams  of  morning,  and 
gave  ingress  to  the  legions  bearing  that  sign  of  con- 
quest that  Rome  had  never  beheld  till  now,  the 
plaudits  and  acclamations  that  shook  the  Campus 
Martiuh,  and  reverberated,  from  the  hills  l>eyond  the 
Tiber  back  again,  were  taken  up  and  prolonged,  *iike 
the  sound  of  many  waters,"  by  the  multitudes  crowded 
on  every  vantage  ground,  and  roof,  and  along  the 
entire  extent  of  the  triumphal  way  itself.  •'After 
Constantine,  who,  in  that  juncture,"  says  Husebius, 
"acted  like  Moses,  that  great  servant  of  God,  had 
offered  up  his  vows  and  hymns  of  praise  to  the  author 
of  victory,  he  made  his  entry   in   triumph  into   the 


244  THE  FOURTH  CENTURY, 

imperial  city.  Whereupon  all  persons,  as  well 
those  of  the  senatorial  as  of  the  equestrian  order, 
feeling  as  it  were  suddenly  liberated  from  a  prison, — 
they,  together  with  the  entire  population  of  Rome, 
received  him,  with  a  joy  in  their  countenances  that 
proceeded  from  their  very  souls,  with  acclamations, 
and  a  gladness  insatiable;  and  the  men,  together  with 
the  women,  the  children  and  multitudes  of  slaves 
hailed  him  as  a  redeemer,  a  benefactor,  and  a  deliverer, 
with  voices  that  could  not  be  silenced.  But  both  by 
proclamations  and  by  signs,  he  intimated  that  these 
outpourings  were  due,  not  to  him,  but  to  that  standard 
of  the  cross  by  which  he  had  conquered."  "The 
same  symbol,"  says  Gibbon,  "sanctified  the  arms  of 
his  soldiers;  the  cross  glittered  on  their  helmets;  was 
engraved  on  their  shields;  and  interwoven  in  their 
banners;  and  on  the  helmet  and  armour  of  the  emperor 
there  were  crosses  of  diamonds  and  precious  stones, 
that  sparkled  and  shone  in  the  sun's  rays  with  an 
enchanting  brilliancy." 

Passing  the  field  of  Mars,  where  the  temples  were 
thickest,  the  procession  of  the  Labarum  moved  along 
through  the  portico  of  Octavia,  built  by  Pompey,  into 
the  Campus  Flaminius;  then  by  the  place  of  the  an- 
cient triumphal  gate  between  the  Tarpeian  cliff  and  the 
Tiber;  then  by  the  theatre  of  Marcellus;  the  portico  of 
Octavia,  sister  of  Augustus;  the  (Velabrum);  and  the 
Forum  Boarium  into  the  Circus  Maximus.  There  the 
spectators,  some  few  hundreds  of  thousands,  were 
ranged  on  the  couches  and  marble  benches  of  this  Ely- 
sium of  the  Romans,  occupying,  as  it  did,  the  entire 
valley  from  one  end  to  the  other,  between  the  Palatine 
hill  and  the  Aventine;  then  wheeling  to  the   left,    the 


CONSTANTINE    THE   GREAT.  245 

procession  moved  along  between  the  Palatine  and  the 
Coelian,  in  the  vicinity  of  which,  at  a  place  called 
the  * '  Veteres  Curiae, ' '  it  passed  under  a  temporary 
arch  of  triumph,  afterwards  of  marble.  It  was  in- 
scribed to  the  Liberator  of  the  City,  to  the  founder  of 
tranquility,  and  stated  that  all  this  he  had  effected, 
'^through  the  inspiration  of  the  Divinity." 

Wheeling  again  to  the  left,  along  the  **sacred  way/* 
before  descending  between  the  temple  of  Peace  and  the 
palace  of  the  Roman  forum,  the  triumph,  midst  ever 
increasing  throngs  and  acclamations,  passed  under  the 
arch  of  Titus,  of  which  the  (relievi)  representing  the 
i^acred  emblems  and  furniture  of  the  Jewish  Temple, 
among  the  other  spoils  of  conquest,  bore  perpetual 
testimony  to  the  accomplishment  of  our  Lord's  denun- 
ciation against  Jerusalem. 

But  that  which  above  all  distinguished  this  triumph 
was  its  termination;  for  it  ended  not,  as  heretofore  in  the 
murder  of  noble  captives,  and  idolatrous  sacrifices  to 
Jupiter,  but  in  the  planting  upon  the  Capitol  of  that 
Cross  hitherto  regarded  with  such  bitter  execration, 
and  so  long  and  cruelly  persecuted  by  Rome.  '^And 
with  a  loud  voice,  and  by  inscription,"  says  Eusebius, 
''Constantine  made  known  to  all  men  the  standard  of 
salvation  by  erectiug  this  great  trophy  in  the  midst  of 
the  imperial  city,  with  a  Latin  inscription  to  the  fol- 
lowing effect: — 

"By  this  salutary  sign,  the  genuine  type  of  fortitude 
I  have  liberated  and  freed  your  city  from  the  slavish 
yoke  of  the  tyrant;  and  have  set  at  liberty  the  senate 
and  people  of  Rome,  restoring  them  to  their  pristine 
splendor  and  dignity." 


246  THE  FO  UR  TH  CENTUR  V. 

CONSTANTINE   TAKING  A    SPADE,    DIGS  WITH  HIS  OWN 

HANDS  THE  FIRST  OF  THE  FOUNDATION  OF 

THE  BASILICA   OF  ST.    PETER, 

At  Rome,  for  several  days  after  the  triumphal  entry 
of  Constantine  nothing  was  thought  of  but  festivity 
and  rejoicing.  From  all  quarters  of  Italy,  immense 
crowds  came  pouring  in,  not  so  much  for  the  sake  of 
the  games  and  spectacles  that  were  given,  as  to  ascer- 
tain with  their  own  eyes,  whether  the  incredible  ru- 
mors that  had  been  spread  abroad  concerning  the  cross 
were  true.  On  beholding  the  trophy,  and  reading  the 
inscriptions,  at  first,  they  could  not  believe  their  eyes; 
the  next  moment  they  were  seized  with  astonishment 
and  admiration;  and  vast  numbers  of  all  degrees,  sexes 
and  ages,  upon  the  spot  declared  themselves  converted. 

The  lowly  tombs  of  the  apostles,  the  catacombs,  the 
places  where  the  martyrs  had  been  tortured,  or  where 
their  blood  had  been  poured  out  like  water,  their  mem- 
bers scattered  to  dogs  and  beasts  of  prey;  in  short, 
whatever  bore  the  slightest  relationship  to  Christianity 
became  on  a  sudden  the  object  of  enthusiastic  interest. 
Even  the  most  bigoted  gave  way  to  emotions  of  won- 
der and  gratitude  in  the  general  fervor  of  excitement. 
They  were  not  a  little  astonished  at  these  things,  won- 
dering at  so  great  and  unexpected  an  alteration  of 
affairs;  and  crying  out  that  the  God  of  the  Christians 
was  the  great  and  only  God.  They  thronged  around 
the  champions  of  Christ  wherever  they  appeared,  and 
gazed  upon  them  as  beings  more  than  human;  inso- 
much, that  they  who  before  breathed  nothing  but 
threats  and  vengeance  against  the  Christians,  now 
hailed  them  with  plaudits  and  cheers  of  welcome,  as 
they  issued  from  the   innumerable   crypts  and  tombs 


CONSTANTINE  THE  GREAT,  247 

around  the  city,  seeming  almost  to  realize,  and  display 
beforehand  to  the  unbelievers,  and  even  in  this  life, 
the  joys  and  glories  of  the  resurrection.  Moreover, 
those  who  had  been  banished,  or  who  had  abandoned 
all,  and  taken  to  the  forest  and  the  caves  of  the  moun- 
tains for  the  sake  of  Christ,  or  who  had  been  long 
buried  in  the  mines,  were  now  beheld  returning  to 
their  own  habitations,  and  being  glad  and  overflowing 
with  delight,  they  came  along  in  companies,  lauding 
the  Almighty  with  hymns  and  psalms,  not  only 
through  villages  and  country  places,  but  along  the 
great  highways,  and  even  through  the  streets  and 
forums  of  the  city.  And  you  might  have  seen  those 
who  had  been  but  lately  in  bonds,  groaning  under  most 
severe  punishments,  and  driven  from  house  and  home, 
now  reinstated  with  joyful  and  pleasant  countenances, 
and  with  many  and  signal  honors,  in  their  own  dwell- 
ings, being  held  in  high  repute  and  veneration  by  their 
former  enemies. 

To  the  successors  of  St.  Peter  (for  whom  during  so 
many  centuries  there  was  no  security  or  respite  from 
imperial  vengeance,  even  in  the  catacombs  and  sepul- 
chres of  the  dead),  that  stately  palace  which  had  been 
appropriated  to  t^eir  own  use  by  the  emperors  from 
the  attainder  and  execution  of  Plautius  Lateranus, 
was  now  granted  in  perpetuity  by  Constantine,  with 
rich  demesnes  in  Italy  and  the  other  provinces.  The 
power  and  solicitude  so  long  exerted  to  deprive  the 
martyrs  even  of  an  obscure  grave  were  now  busied  in 
adorning  the  scenes  of  their  sufferings,  and  in  erecting 
magnificent  and  costly  mausoleums  above  their  sepul- 
chres outside  the  city  walls. 

From  the  night  after  the  prince  of  the  apostles  had 


248  THE  FOURTH  CENTURY. 

suffered  martyrdom,  the  crypt,  hard  by  the  Circus  of 
Nero,  where  the  dead  body  of  St.  Peter  had  reposed, 
became  a  most  hallowed  spot,  and  a  place  of  prayer  and 
pilgrimage  for  the  Christians.  It  formed  one  of  the 
greatest  privileges  of  his  successors  to  be  laid  in  death 
beside  the  great  founder  or  first  viceroy  of  Christ's 
kingdom.  A  little  oratory  or  tomb  had  been  erected 
there  so  early  as  the  year  io6  by  one  of  his  own  faith- 
ful priests,  who  afterwards  succeeded  him  in  the  pon- 
tificate. It  had  shared  the  fate  of  all  the  places  con- 
secrated to  Christian  worship;  or  rather,  it  was  the 
mark  of  the  persecutors'  destructive  fury  in  the  very 
first  instance,  and  was  still  a  heap  of  ruins  when,  on  a 
certain  day,  the  legions,  the  senate,  and  the  Roman 
people  being  there  assembled,  the  Emperor  came  to  the 
scene  where  his  predecessor  had  so  inhumanly  tor- 
mented and  massacred  the  Christians,  and  St.  Peter 
most  cruelly  of  all.  There,  Constantine  having  dis- 
mounted from  his  chariot,  and  laid  aside  his  diadem, 
prostrated  himself  before  the  confession,  and  poured 
out  floods  of  tears,  so  that  they  streamed  down  over 
the  ornaments  of  his  imperial  robes.  Then  taking  a 
spade  he  dug  with  his  own  hands  the  beginning  of  the 
foundation  of  the  Basilica  of  St.  Peter,  and  carried 
away  on  his  shoulders  a  basket  of  earth. 

The  dimensions  of  the  temple  erected  at  that  time 
were  these:  The  nave  from  'the  great  entrance  to  the 
chancel,  beyond  which  stood  the  altar,  measured  390 
palms,  and  from  beyond  the  altar  to  the  apse  or  semi- 
circular termination,  where  stood  the  pontiff's  chair, 
36  palms;  the  tribune  was  44  palms,  making  430 
palms  the  entire  length,  not  including  the  width  of  the 
transept,  which  was  406  palms  long.  The  nave  was 
Eiisebius^  Life  of  Constantine. 


CONSTANTINE  THE  GREAT.  249 

in  height  170  palms,  and  the  distance  between  the 
two  massive  pillars,  from  which  sprung  the  arch  con- 
necting it  with  the  transept,  was  78  palms;  but  be- 
tween the  colonnade,  on  each  side  that  is  to  say,  the 
width  of  the  nave  measured  106  palms.  On  each  side 
of  this  nave  were  two  aisles,  making  four  aisles  in  all, 
besides  the  centre  one,  or  the  nave  itself.  The  two 
interior  aisles,  or  those  next  the  nave,  w^ere  each  38 
palms  wide,  and  82  in  height;  each  of  the  exterior 
aisles  were  62  palms  high  and  39  palms  wide;  and  the 
colonnades  of  the  Corinthian  order,  that  separated  the 
nave  from  the  aisles,  and  the  aisles  from  each  other, 
consisted  each  of  22  pillars;  those  next  the  nave  being 
40  palms  high,  those  between  the  aisles  only  26. 

In  front  of  the  Basilica  was  an  atrium  of  quadrang- 
ular shape  surrounded  by  four  porticoes.  That  one 
next  the  Basilica,  consisting  of  46  columns,  was  long 
as  the  Basilica  was  wide;  that  is,  it  was  285  palms  in 
length,  in  width  50  palms,  in  height  59;  serving  as  a 
vestibule  to  the  Basilica,  into  which  you  entered  by 
three  lofty  portals;  one  on  the  right,  one  on  the  left, 
and  one  in  the  centre,  which  last  mentioned  portal  was 
the  greatest  of  the  three.  But  as  to  the  two  lateral 
porticoes  of  the  rectangular  atrium,  each  of  them  was 
250  palms  long  and  40  broad;  ihe  fourth  side  in  the 
centre  of  which  were  the  great  gales  of  ingress  to  the 
atrium  or  court,  was  equal  of  course  in  length  to  the 
corresponding  side,  forming  the  vestibule  of  the  tem- 
ple; but  it  was  only  40  palms  wide  and  55  palms  in 
height.  In  the  very  middle  of  this  atrium  there  was  a 
great  fountain  embellished  with  symbolical  ornaments, 
such  as  the  Agnus  Dei.  the  cross,  the  palm  bratich, 
winged   beings,  and    flowers  in   marble  and  mosaic. 

A  Rotnan  pahii  was  ei^hl  and  oM^-hal/  tNthes, 


250  THE  FOURTH  CENTURY. 

The  tazza  or  basin  of  this  fountain  was  surrounded  by 
a  colonnade  of  porphyry;  out  of  its  centre  there  seemed 
to  grow  a  stately  pine  of  bronze,  which  had  formerly 
served  as  if  to  shade  Cybele  in  a  recess  of  the  Pan- 
theon; and  under  the  umbrage  of  its  spreading  arms, 
the  limpid  waters  poured  out  by  gilded  dolphins  served 
to  cool  and  refresh  the  Christian  pilgrim,  reminding  him 
withal  of  the  purity  and  calmness  of  spirit  required  in 
the  worshippers  of  Him  before  whom  * 'nothing  that  is 
impure  can  enter." 

From  this  fountain,  smaller  ones,  placed  all  round 
the  atrium  in  the  porticoes  for  the  purification  of  those 
who  entered  the  temple,  were  supplied  perennially; 
and  besides  the  great  fountain  for  the  pilgrims,  there 
was  another  called  by  the  people  Sabatina,  nearer  to 
the  seventy-five  steps  of  marble,  each  two  hundred 
palms  long,  by  which  you  ascended  to  the  platform 
before  the  vestibule,  which  platform,  also  of  marble^ 
was  two  hundred  palms  by  seventy-six  in  depth,  to- 
wards the  vestibule  of  the  Basilica.  This  vestibule 
itself  was  covered  with  gilded  tiles,  and  the  facade,  or 
front  elevation  of  the  Basilica,  had  rising  above  it  the 
apex  of  its  pediment  surmounted  by  a  cross,  from 
which  golden  rays  as  it  were  of  glory  darted  out  on 
every  side;  and  under  the  architrave,  and  between  the 
windows — of  which  there  were  two  tiers  of  an  arched 
shape — all  the  spaces  were  decorated  with  figures  and 
groups  in  fresco;  representing  the  apostles  in  various 
attitudes  of  adoration,  our  lyord  being  depicted  on  high, 
with  St.  Paul  on  his  left  hand,  having  the  sword  of 
the  word  of  God,  and  on  his  right  hand  St.  Peter  with 
the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

The  rapidity  with  which  this  sacred  edifice  sprung 


CONSTANTINE  THE  GREAT.  251 

Up  from  among  the  ruins  of  the  Neronian  circus,  and 
the  temple  of  Apollo,  of  which  it  was  almost  entirely 
constructed  is  scarcely  credible;  for  the  genius  of 
Constantine  as  impetuous  and  impatient  of  delay,  as 
it  was  brilliant  and  decisive,  could  not  brook  the  ordi- 
nary routine  of  art;  but  in  his  architectural  enterprises, 
as  in  his  campaigns,  bringing  the  immense  resources 
at  his  command  to  bear  upon  the  point  of  interest, 
caused  not  only  temples,  but  cities  as  if  to  rise  by 
magic.  Hence  there  was  about  the  basilicas  to  the 
honor  of  the  apostles  and  martyrs  of  his  erection,  all 
the  air  of  trophies  thrown  suddenly  upon  a  field  of  bat- 
tle, and  under  the  impulse  of  an  enthusiasm,  too 
tumultuous  to  be  heedful  of  precision,  and  only  eager 
to  signalize  and  commemorate  the  triumph.  They 
were  on  this  account  the  more  appropriate;  and  what 
they  wanted  in  artistic  correctness  and  elaboration  of 
detail,  was  eclipsed  in  one  universal  blaze  of  splendor; 
forgotten  in  delight  and  wonder  at  the  gorgeous  effect 
produced  by  the  brilliant  coloring,  and  gold,  with 
which  every  object  shone  resplendent,  from  the  mosaic 
pavements,  to  the  capitals  and  burni.vhed  ceilings. 

Objects  of  the  mo>t  divine  and  touching  import 
saluted  the  gaze  to  whatever  side  it  turned.  The 
scene  of  the  Nativity ,  with  the  Virgin  Mother,  the 
Divine  Infant  reposing  on  her  bosom,  and  the  angelic 
choirs  proclaiming  in  hymns  of  celestial  melody  "the 
peace  of  good  will  to  men."  On  another  side,  the 
baptism  in  the  Jordan;  the eiicharistic supper;  then  the 
Saviour  restoring  sight  to  the  blind,  curing  the  paraly- 
tic, calling  Lazarus  from  the  tomb,  or  feeding  the  five 
thousand  in  the  wilderness;  the  multitude  seated 
around  upon  the  grass,  with  the  gospel  narrative  faith- 


252  THE  FOURTH  CENTURY, 

fully  depicted.  In  another  part,  the  transfiguration 
on  Mount  Tabor,  the  crucifixion  of  Jesus  Christ,  his 
burial,  his  resurrection,  his  ascension  into  heaven,  the 
descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  tongues  of  fire,  on  the 
day  of  Pentecost. 

But  what  most  of  all  arrested  the  eyes  and  caused 
them  to  overflow  with  tears — welling  up  from  a  con- 
trite heart — were  the  stages  of  the  Saviour's  passion; 
for  with  such  vividness  and  pathos  had  the  painter 
represented  the  "man  of  sorrows,"  from  his  bitter  ag- 
ony in  the  garden  until  his  expiring  upon  the  cross, 
that  the  most  obdurate  beholder  could  not  but  be 
moved  to  sympathy  and  repentance. 

But  though  all  parts  of  the  temple  shone  with  re- 
splendent beauty,  the  sanctuary  attracted  the  eye  in  a 
pre-eminent  degree  by  its  admirable  light  and  by  the 
sacred  emblems  and  decorations  of  gold  and  silver  and 
precious  stones  that  glittered  around  the  altar,  and  on 
everything  connected  with  the  Divine  Mysteries. 

The  Emperor  caused  a  shrine  for  the  relics  of  St. 
Peter  to  be  fabricated  of  Cyprian  bronze.  This  was 
overshadowed  by  a  baldachino,  or  canopy  of  silver, 
supported  by  pillars,  some  of  porphyry,  others  of  a 
costly  marble,  called  tresthynian  by  the  Greeks.  The 
cross  placed  on  the  shrine  that  served  for  the  high 
altar  was  of  the  purest  gold,  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
pounds  weight.  At  the  foot  this  cross  bore  an  inscrip- 
tion, in  small  characters  of  a  brilliant  jet  black,  stating 
that  Constantine  and  the  Empress  Helen,  his  mother, 
had  caused  that  Basilica  to  be  made  refulgent,  and 
embellished  with  regal  splendor;  and  the  apse,  or 
tribune,  where  the  apostolic  throne  was  placed,  being 
entirely  burnished  with  crimson  and  gold,  most  strictly 
Eusebius. 


CONSTANT! NE  THE  GREAT.  253 

verified  the  inscription.  The  four  candelabra,  two  on 
each  side  of  the  altar,  were  of  bronze,  ornamented 
with  medallions,  and  relievi,  in  silver,  representing 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  Each  candelabrum  weighed 
three  hundred  pounds,  and  rested  upon  ten  claws. 
They  made  an  offering  to  the  altar  of  three  golden 
chalices,  each  weighing  ten  pounds,  and  each  set  with 
fifty  emeralds;  with  two  silver  vases  for  the  wine  of 
sacrifice,  each  of  two  hundred  pounds  weigiit;  also 
twenty  chalices  of  silver,  each  of  ten  pounds  weight, 
besides  patenas  and  other  sacred  vessels,  some  of  silver, 
some  of  pure  gold;  one  in  particular  adorned  with  em- 
eralds and  other  precious  stones  to  the  number  of  two 
hundred  and  fifteen.  The  golden  lamp,  which  they 
hung  before  the  shrine,  weighed  thirty-five  pounds, 
and  had  fifty  lights,  each  light  issuing,  as  it  were,  from 
a  dolphin's  mouth.  The  lustre,  or  pharos  of  the  chan- 
cel, was  of  the  same  form,  but  of  silver;  and  to  the 
right  and  left  were  sixty  other  silver  lamps,  each  with 
its  dolphin  lights;  each  of  eight  pounds  weight.  The 
censor,  or  thurible,  weighed  fifteen  pounds,  and  was 
of  gold,  resplendent  with  diamonds.  The  altar  itself 
was  of  gold  and  silver  of  the  weight  of  three  hundred 
and  fifty  pounds,  inlaid  and  thickly  studded  with 
pearls  and  emeralds. 

The  gifts  of  the  Emperor  and  the  Empress- mot  her 
to  St.  Peter's  Basilica  for  thC'  support  of  the  Divine 
worship  were  as  follows: 

Through  the  diocese  of  the  East — In  the  city  of  An- 
tioch,  the  hou.se  of  Datianus,  bringing  in  $1,200  per 
annum;  a  small  yearly  property  in  Nicea,  of  something 
more  than  $100;  in  Cerethea  a  bath,  annual  rent  $210; 
a  bakery  in  the  same  place,  rent  $115;  the  garden  of 


254  THE  FOURTH  CENTURY, 

Maro,  rent  $50;  another  garden  in  the  same  city,  rent 
$10.  In  the  city  of  Antioch,  in  the  lands  of  the 
Sibyl,  $1,100;  of  paper,  150  reams;  of  aroma  or  spice, 
200  pounds;  and  35  pounds  of  balsam. 

The  estate  of  Theatinus  Caduas,  worth  $250,  and  70 
reams  of  paper. 

In  the  environs  of  Alexandria,  the  estate  of  Tim- 
ealca,  recently  presented  to  Constantine  by  Ambronius, 
rental  $3,100;  reams  of  paper,  300;  of  the  oil  of  Nard, 
300  pounds;  of  balsam,  60;  of  aroma,  150  pounds; 
and  50  pounds  of  Isaurian  storax. 

The  estate  of  Ealinus.  In  other  parts  of  Egypt  the 
estate  of  Agapius  recently  presented  to  Constantine; 
the  Cynopolian  estate,  rent  $4,000;  of  paper,  400  reams; 
of  pepper,  50  medimni;  of  saffron  100  pounds;  of  storax 
150;  of  cinnamon  or  sweet  spice  of  Casia,  200;  of  nard 
oil,  300;  of  balsam,  100  pounds;  of  Cyprian  oil,  100 
pounds;  of  fine  papyrus,  1,000  yards;  another  estate 
$2,250;  of  paper,  200  reams;  of  spice  of  Casia,  50 
pounds;  of  balsam,  50;  also,  the  estate  of  Armanazon, 
near  the  city  of  Cyprus  in  the  province  of  the 
Euphrates,  rent,  $1,900;  and  near  Tarsus  of  Cilicia,  a 
small  island. 

But  if  in  the  dedication  of  "the  second  temple,"  the 
old  men  wept,  recollecting  the  glory  of  the  first,  that 
had  been  dedicated  by  King  Solomon  with  so  much 
magnificence,  what  must  have  been  the  emotions  with 
which  the  Christians  who  had  been  accustomed  to 
adore  the  holy  eucharistic  sacrifice  in  crypts  and 
cemeteries,  and  under  the  ban  of  infamy  and  death, 
wdien  they  now  beheld  the  solemn  dedication  of,  and 
the  tremendous  mysteries  offered  up,  in  this  heaven 
upon  earth,  so  full  of  dazzling  beauty,  and  golden 
In  United  States  Money. 


CONSTANTINE  THE  GREAT,  255 

glory  ?     They  seemed  to  have  before  their  eyes  what 
was  foreshown  in  vision  to  St.  John,  when  he  saw  the 
holy  city,  the  new  Jerusalem,  descending  from  heaven, 
new,    from    God.      The   venerable   pontiff   enthroned 
with  his  college  of  bishops  and  priests  seated  on  each 
side;  the  multitude  of  acolytes  accorHingto  the  various 
orders  and  gradation  of  their  ministry:  above  all.  the 
golden  altar,  on  which  faith  beheld  ''the  Lamb  as  it 
were  slain."    and   fragrant   clouds   of  incense  rising 
before  the  altar,   like  the  prayers   i  f  saints:  all   this 
seemed  to  be  sketched  and  copied  from  the  Revelations 
of  St.  John,    as   the  tabernacle  was  copied   from  the 
model    shown    to    Moses    on    the   Mount;   and    they 
exclaimed,  as  if  by  a  divine  impulse  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
"Behold    the   tabernacle   of   God    with    men."      The 
sackcloth  of  mourning  was  now  exchanged   for  the 
vestments   of   gladness   and  joy:  the  tribulation  and 
disconsolate  gloom  of  the  Passion  gave  place  to  the 
alleluias,  the  Divine  light,  and  beatitude  of  the  Resur- 
rection. 

PVom  Rome  this  joyous  light  diffused  itself  over  the 
universal  church;  to  Africa,  Britain,  and  all  those  na- 
tions that  are  bounded  by  the  Western  ocean  in  the 
first  instance,  and  ere  long  to  Pontus,  Egypt  and  still 
more  remote  places. 

"All  Christendom  was  now  free  from  the  slavery  and 
oppression  of  tyrants,"  .says  Husebius,  **and  being  re- 
leased from  their  former  mi.^eries  it  was  acknowletlged 
by  all,  and  even  some  pagans  expressed  themselves  to 
the  same  effect  that  God  was  the  defender  of  the  Chris- 
tians, but  amongst  us  Chri.<>tians  there  was  an  inex- 
pressible joy,  and  a  kind  of  celestial  gladness  when  we 
saw  the  places,  that  through  the  impiety  of  the  perse- 


256  THE  FOURTH  CENTURY, 

ciitors,  had  been  a  little  while  before  reduced  to  utter 
ruin,  suddenly,  as  it  were,  restored  to  life,  and  noble 
temples  again  springing  aloft  to  a  vast  height,  in 
splendor  even  exceeding  those  that  had  been  destroy- 
ed. Then  appeared  a  spectacle  long  and  earnestly 
sighed  for,  and  ardently  desired  by  us  all;  to  wit,  the 
festive  solemnities  of  the  dedication  of  churches  through 
out  the  cities,  and  the  consecration  of  newly  built  ora- 
tories; the  frequent  synods  and  assemblies  of  bishops; 
theconcourse  of  strangers  from  countries  far  remote; 
the  mutual  love  and  benevolence  of  the  people;  the  mem- 
bers of  the  mystic  body  vivified  and  knit  together  by 
the  all  pervading  virtue  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  one  soul, 
in  all  the  same  lively  faith;  one  common  unison  of  all 
in  singing  the  Divine  praises;  while  great  exactness, 
full  of  decorum  and  majesty,  was  observed  in  the 
celebration  of  the  various  functions  and  ceremonies  of 
the  church." 

Even  in  the  outlying  countries,  inhabited  by  peoples 
breathing  hostility  to  the  civil  power  of  Rome,  the 
genial  influence  of  the  Divine  light  made  itself  felt. 
It  was  hailed  with  enthusiasm  by  the  Goths  and  the 
Germans. 

* 'Its  rays,"  says  Gibbon,  "illuminated  the  coast  of 
India,  were  diffused  over  Arabia,  Ethiopia,  and  even 
penetrated  the  sequestered  regions  of  Abyssinia,"  so 
that  the  empire  of  the  Popes  was  extended  far  beyond 
the  frontiers  that  bounded  the  empire  of  the  Caesars; 
and  "Rome,  constituted  the  capital  of  the  world  by  the 
chair  of  Peter,"  had  already  extended  her  conquests, 
by  the  gospel,  much  more  widely  than  she  had  ever 
been  able  to  extend  them  by  her  armies. 

However,  it  would  be  quite  erroneous  to  imagine 


CONSTANTINE  THE  GREAT,  257 

that  Christianity  was  made  the  sole  religion  of  the 
state  by  Constantine.  The  edict  of  Milan,  issued 
jointly  by  Constantine  and  Licinius,  granted  liberty 
of  conscience  to  all  sects,  amongst  whom  it  ranked 
the  Christians;  conceding  also  to  the  latter,  the  resti- 
tution of  their  churches  and  of  the  ecclesiastical 
property  of  which  they  had  been  deprived  during  the 
recent  persecution.  "Having  long  since  perceived," 
says  the  edict,  '*that  a  liberty  of  religion  ought  not  to 
be  denied,  but  that  license  in  this  matter  should  be 
permitted  to  all  according  to  their  judgment: — We 
have  decreed  that  all  other  persons  as  well  as  Chris- 
tians should  retain  the  faith  and  observance  of  their 
own  sect  and  religion.  We  have  also  further  decreed 
in  favor  of  the  Christians,  that  those  places  wherein 
they  used  to  convene  in  times  past  be  immediately  and 
without  delay  restored  to  the  said  Christians  without 
money  or  exaction;  but  if  those  who  purchased  or  had 
grants  of  those  places,  wish  to  demand  compensation, 
let  them  address  the  governor  presiding  as  judge  in 
that  province:  and  in  as  much  as  the  said  Christians, 
are  known  to  have  had  possession,  not  only  of  those 
places  wherein  they  usually  assembled,  but  of  others 
also  which  did  not  particularly  and  apart  belong  to 
any  private  persons,  but  to  certain  societies  or  con- 
gregations of  them,  the  governors  shall  give  orders 
that  they  be  in  like  manner  restored  to  the  said 
Christians,  according  to  the  claims  of  the  several  con- 
gregations." It  is  true,  that  various  favors  and 
privileges  were  subsequently  conferred  upon  his  co- 
religionists by  the  imperial  convert;  the  practices  of 
magic  were  forbidden  in  private  houses,  and  according 
to  a   very   ancient   document,   although   of  dubious 

EuSt'hlHS. 


258  THE  FOURTH  CENTURY, 

authenticity,  the  prince  was  disuaded  only  by  the 
earnest  entreaties  of  St.  Sylvester  the  then  pope  from 
resorting  to  severity  with  the  pagans  who  were 
unmoved  by  his  arguments;  but  it  is  certain,  notwith- 
standing, that  long  after  the  dynasty  of  Constantine 
had  disappeared,  the  religion  of  Numa  continued  to  be 
regarded  as  that  of  the  constitution,  while  Christianity 
was  regarded  only  as  a  sect. 

So  far  indeed  were  the  Christians  from  being  in  the 
ascendent,  that  we  find  a  rescript  dated  fromSirmium, 
on  the  8th.  of  the  calends  of  June,  322,  that  is,  ten 
years  after  Constantine's  conversion,  from  which  it 
appears  that  the  Christians  were  again  exposed  to 
violence  in  Rome  and  throughout  Italy,  under  the  pre- 
tence that  it  was  incumbent  on  every  individual  claim- 
ing the  protection  of  the  state,  to  join  in  the  great 
social  acts  of  religion  that  it  prescribed.  It  was 
during  this  outbreak  of  the  old  persecuting  spirit, 
chiefly  directed  against  the  clergy,  that  Pope  Sylvester 
was  compelled  to  take  shelter  in  a  cave  on  Mount 
Soracte.  This  flight  of  the  venerable  pontiff  is  ren- 
dered intelligible  by  the  fact,  that  the  enmity  heretor 
fore  levelled  against  our  Lord  Himself,  began  from 
this  period  to  be  directed  against  the  successor  of  St. 
Peter,  as  the  prime  agent  in  propagating  and  main- 
taining the  Christian  superstition  as  they  called  it. 

When  two  years  later,  in  the  year  324,  and  after  he 
had  reduced  the  entire  empire  under  his  own  dominion, 
Constantine  visited  Rome,  he  found  the  senate  still 
unshaken  in  its  attachment  to  the  ancient  superstitions. 
He  is  said  to  have  exerted  himself  with  the  zeal  of  an 
apostle  for  their  conversion.  In  a  grand  assembly  of 
the  senate,  convened  in  the  Forum  of  Trajan,  he   har- 


CONSTANTINE  THE  GREAT.  259 

angued  them  with  great  eloquence  and  force  of  argu- 
ment on  the  absurdity  and  wickedness  of  idolatry;  but 
though  the  imperial  orator  was  cheered  and  applauded 
to  the  echo,  and  escorted  to  the  palace  by  the  entire 
assembly  with  lighted  torches,  he  soon  discovered  that 
little  reliance  was  to  be  placed  upon  these  very  flatter- 
ing exhibitions;  for  no  sooner  did  he  refuse  to  conform 
to  the  immemorial  custom  of  ascending  the  Capitol 
with  the  troops,  there  to  offer  sacrifice  and  perform 
other  rites  prescribed  by  law,  then  he  incurred  the 
hatred  both  of  the  senate  and  the  people.  It  is  the 
pagan  hii^torian  Zozimus  who  mentions  this  circum- 
stance, and  he  adds,  that  because  he  could  not  endure 
the  public  insults  and  execrations  to  which  he  was 
exposed  on  account  of  his  contempt  of  paganism  that 
Constantine  was,  as  it  were,  driven  from  Rome  to 
found  a  new  capital,  where  he  might  follow  his  newly 
adopted  religion  unmolested. 

THE  COUNCIL  OF  SARDICA. 

The  general  council  of  Nice  was  held  in  the  lifetime 
of  Constantine  and  seven  years  after  his  death  the 
Council  of  Sardica  as  an  appendix  to  that  of  Nice. 
According  to  St.  Athanasius  there  were  in  the  Couocil 
of  Sardica  three  hundred  bishop.s.  Sulpicius  Severus 
says  it  was  convened  from  the  whole  world;  Socrates 
calls  it  a  general  council.  St.  Athanasius  names  the 
provinces  from  which  the  bishops  came;  Italy.  Gaul, 
Spain,  Africa,  Britain,  Egypt,  Syria,  Thrace  and 
Pannonia.  Its  ordinances  and  decrees  were  directed 
to  be  observed  "by  the  Catholic  Church  diffused  over 
the  whole  world." 

The  fourth  canon  reads  thus:  "When  ati\  ui>hop, 
on  being  deposed  by  the  bishops  of  the  province  to 


260  THE  FOURTH  CENTURY, 

which  he  belongs,  makes  his  appeal  to  Rome,  let  no 
other  on  any  account  whatsoever  be  substituted  in  his 
«ee  pending  the  appeal,  or  until  the  cause  shall  have 
been  determined  by  the  bishop  of  Rome. ' ' 

The  seventh  canon  lays  down  the  various  modes  of 
procedure,  any  one  of  which  it  was  competent  for  the 
Roman  See  to  adopt:  — 

"First — That  the  Pope  would  deign  to  write  to 
the  bishops  of  the  neighbouring  sees  to  examine  dili- 
;gently  into  the  cause  of  appeal,  and  to  adjudicate  upon 
its  fidelity  and  truth. 

* 'Secondly — That  if  the  Pope  so  will  it,  it  shall  be 
competent  to  him  to  send  a  legate,  even  a  presbyter  to 
•decide  the  case. 

**Thirdly — The  Pope  may  send  his  legate  to  reas- 
semble the  synod,  and  conjointly  with  them  to  decide. 
"Fourthly  —If  it  should  seem  sufficient  to  refer  the 
case  back  again  for  revision  by  the  same  bishops,  let 
the  Pope  do  that  which  in  his  most  wise  counsel  he 
shall  see  fit." 

But  Rome,  said  Pope  St.  Leo  the  Great,  in  his  re- 
script to  the  bishops  of  Gaul,  did  not  stand  in  need  of 
the  degrees  of  Sardica;  they  only  reasserted  and  gave 
their  solemn  sanction  to  what  had  been  from  time  im- 
memorial the  usage  of  the  church.* 

Even  the  heathens  knew  well  that  this  was  the  rule 
of  the  church.  During  the  great  Arian  controversy,  that 
involved  so  much  confusion,  they  could  tell  that  those 
were  right  who  believed  with  the  bishop  of  Rome,  and 
that  those  who  differed  from  him  were  wrong.  In- 
deed, the  conduct  of  the  Arians  themselves  proclaimed 
it,  while  persecuting  Athanasius,  the  great  champion 
of  the  ancient  faith,  the  Emperor  Constantius,  says 
Ep,  89, 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  SARDICA.  26t 

the  pagan  writer  Ammianus  Marcellinus,  was  most 
anxious  to  have  him  condemned  by  the  authoritjr 
which  the  Bishop  of  Rome  had  over  the  rest.f 

We  have  instances  of  such  appeals  to  Rome  from 
the  earliest  times,  Marcion  condemned  in  Pontus  by 
the  local  bishop,  appeals  to  Rome,  A.  D.  142.  Fortu- 
natus  and  Felix  from  Spain,  in  the  time  of  St.  Cyp- 
rian. Basilides,  from  the  same  province,  not  long 
after.  St.  Dionysius  of  Alexandria  is  obliged  by  the  ap- 
peal of  his  own  suffragans,  to  plead  before  the  Holy 
See  St.  Athanasius,  when  deposed,  appeals  to  Pope 
Julius  1st,  and  is  restored.  The  patriarchs  of  Con- 
stantinople and  Antioch  were  reinstated  by  the  same 
pope.  St.  Jerome  tells  us  that  when  he  was  secretary 
to  Pope  Damasus,  he  had  to  answer  synodal  letters 
from  all  parts  of  the  East  and  West.  St.  Chrysostom 
appealed  to  Pope  Innocent  the  First.  It  should  be  re- 
marked that  St.  Athanasius  mentions  (Apol.  2)  that 
his  own  appeal  was  previous  to  the  decree  of  Sardica. 
In  fine,  Pope  Gelasius  says  that  it  was  after  the  two 
African  synods  against  the  Pelagians  had  been  con- 
firmed by  the  Pope,  that  St.  Augustin  uttered  his  cel- 
ebrated words,  "Rome  has  spoken,  the  cause  is  ended'* 
— Roma  lociita  est,  causa  finita  est. 

THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  FOURTH  CENTURY. 

The  fourth  century  closed  as  it  began,  in  a  cruel 
persecution  of  the  Christians.  Especially  from  the 
death  of  Constantine,  pagan  Romans  monopolized  the 
senate  and  the  schools,  and  by  their  superior  rank  and 
opulence  secured  the  chief  posts  of  influence  in  the 
armies  and  the  civil  service,  for  which  long  practice 
and  experience  of  affairs  had  made  them  better  quali- 
fied than  the  Chri.stian8, 

u.  Lib.  xy. 


262  THE  FOURTH  CENTURY. 

The  Catholics  of  rank  and  fortune  were  naturally 
attracted  to  the  new  capital,  where  instead  of  be- 
ing treated  as  apostates,  and  effectually  excluded 
by  conscientious  scruples,  as  well  as  by  party  preju- 
dice, from  most  of  the  high  posts  in  public  life,  they 
were  loaded  with  favors  and  honored  with  prefer- 
ment. 

Notwithstanding,  there  remained  a  silent,  yet  bitter 
prejudice  against  those,  who  having  been  long  and 
cruelly  oppressed  as  an  upstart  and  superstitious"  race, 
and  who  had  been  treated  as  enemies  to  Caesar  and 
Imperial  Rome,  were  now  raised  from  their  inferiority 
to  the  same  constitutional  level  with  themselves.  The 
nature  of  their  feelings  towards  their  newly  consti- 
tuted fellow-citizens,  became  manifest  when  the  acces- 
sion of  the  Emperor  Julian  the  Apostate  in  the  year 
361,  afforded  them  an  opportunity  to  display  them. 

The  churches  and  dwellings  of  the  Christians,  says 
Gibbon,  were  wrecked  at  the  first  signal;  the  tombs  of 
the  martyrs  desecrated,  and  their  sacred  ashes  given 
to  the  winds.  The  Christians  themselves  were  seized, 
and  as  of  old  tormented  and  put  to  death,  and  their 
lifeless  bodies  dragged  through  the  streets,  exposed  to 
the  most  cruel  and  disgusting  indignities.  But  it  was 
against  priests  and  bishops,  and  the  virgins  who  had 
consecrated  themselves  to  their  Redeemer,  that  they 
raged  with  the  most  frantic  inhumanity.  Their  very 
entrails  were  torn  out,  and  after  being  tasted  by 
these  hideous  fanatics,  were  flung  to  the  swine  and 
dogs  that  infested  the  purlieus  of  the  cities. 

All  the  high  and  emolumentary  offices  of  the  empire 
had  been  filled  with  zealots  for  paganism  by  Julian, 
who  made  hostility  to  the  Christians  a  necessity  for 


THE  CLOSE.  263 

promotion.  A  reaction  ensued  upon  the  overthrow 
and  death  of  the  apostate,  and  the  re- establishment  of 
Christianity  upon  the  throne. 

"But  from  that  period,"  says  Sismondi,"  up  to  the 
fall  of  the  empire,  a  hostile  sect,  that  regarded  itself 
unjustly  stripped  of  its  ancient  honors,  inv^oked  the 
vengeance  of  the  gods  on  the  heads  of  the  government, 
exulted  in  the  public  calamities,  and  probably  hast- 
ened them  by  its  intrigues,  though  inextricably  in- 
volved in  the  common  ruin." 

This  party  had  its  headquarters  in  Rome.  That 
city,  under  pagan  prefects  had  in  a  great  degree,  re- 
sumed its  independence,  and  the  senate  seemed  to 
become  every  day  more  republican  in  views.  Scarcely 
any  alteration  in  its  religious  aspect  took  place  on  the 
death  of  Julian;  the  pagan  temples  continued  open,  and 
altars  smoked  with  sacrifices  to  a  thousand  idols,  in 
every  direction  The  patrician  nobles  continued  t© 
prize,  above  every  other  honor,  their  exclusive  privi> 
lege  to  fill  the  various  hierarchical  colleges.  These 
dignities  exalted  them  ahnost  to  the  level  of  the  empe- 
rors, and  so  thoroughly  was  the  idea  of  supremacy  in 
the  state  identified  with  the  pagan  profession,  that 
they  did  not  recognize  the  authority  of  the  Christian 
Caesars  to  be  legitimate,  until  they  had  first  received 
the  stole  and  title  of  supreme  pontiff,  thus  conforming, 
at  least  politically,  to  the  religion  of  the  constitution, 
by  becoming  nominally  its  head. 

The  darling  project  of  reinstating  idolatry  in  the 
throne  of  persecution  was  never  relinquished  Kvery 
ambitious  usurper  was  sure  of  the  sympathy  and  sup- 
port of  the  Roman  senate,  by  holding  forth  this  prom- 
ise.    The  pagan  iK)ntilTs  who  waited  on  Gratinn.  in 


264  THE  FOURTH  CENTURY, 

order  to  invest  and  ordain  him  as  the  head  of  their 
college,  did  not  hesitate  to  declare  that  if  he  declined 
this  prescription  of  immemorial  custom,  they  would 
speedily  transfer  their  allegiance  to  another  Pontifex 
Maximus,  thus  playing  on  the  name  of  the  tyrant, 
Maximus,  who  was  at  that  time  preparing  to  usurp  the 
empire  of  the  West.  Their  hopes  were  particularly 
sanguine  when  Kugenius  the  rhetorician  was  invested 
with  the  purple  after  the  assassination  of  the  lawful 
emperor.  This  happened  in  392.  Throughout  Italy 
the  temples  were  re-opened;  the  smoke  of  incense  as- 
cended from  all  quarters;  the  entrails  of  victims  were 
explored  for  the  signs  of  victory.  The  effigies  of  the 
heathen  gods  were  substituted  lor  the  cross  and  the 
monogram  of  Christ,  upon  the  standards  of  the  legions. 
St.  Ambrose  was  obliged  to  fly  from  Milan;  as  the 
soldiery  boasted  that  they  would  stable  their  horses  in 
the  churches,  and  force  the  ministers  of  the  altar  to 
^serve  the  camp. 

In  effect,  it  appears  from  all  history,  that  the  senate, 
the  highest  court  and  order  of  the  empire,  and  that 
body  which  had  most  uniformly  urged  the  persecution 
of  the  church,  had  in  no  wise  given  up  its  attachment 
to  paganism.  The  memorials  presented  by  Symma- 
chus,  prefect  of  the  city,  to  the  emperors  Valentinian, 
Theodosius  and  Arcadius,  make  it  quite  evident;  since 
it  was  in  the  name  of  the  senate,  he  demanded  of  those 
emperors  the  restoration  of  what  had  been  retrenched 
from  the  endowments  of  the  pagan  hierarchy,  and  that 
the  altar  of  Victory  should  be  restored.  ''Grant  me 
but  the  liberty  of  living  according  to  my  ancient 
usages, "  the  city  is  made  to  say  in  this  apology;  "or 
has  ^.t  come  to  this,  that  I  am  to  be  rebuked  in  my  old 


THE  CLOSE.  265" 

age,  for  a  worship  that  has  subdued  the  world  to  my 
dominion;  for  those  rites  that  ever  repelled  the  enemy 
from  my  walls,  the  Gauls  from  the  Capitol  ?  It  is  too 
late;  it  would  be  discreditable  to  turn  conveit  in  my 
decrepitude." 

It  is  plain,  from  the  refutation  of  this  document  by 
St.  Ambrose,  that  it  was  not  without  reason  Symma- 
chus  represented  his  memorial  as  embodying  the  wishes 
of  the  senate.  This  petition  had  been  preceded  by 
another  to  the  same  effect  in  the  reign  of  Graiian;  and 
that  all  the  Christian  minority  could  effect  on  these 
occasions,  was  to  absent  themselves  from  proceedings, 
to  which  they  were  unable  to  offer  any  effectual  oppo- 
sition, or  to  make  known  their  feelings  in  the  shape  of 
a  protest.  The  worship  of  the  Christ  was  regarded  by 
the  (conscript)  fathers,  merely  as  the  devotion  of  the 
prince;  the  worship  of  the  ancient  gods  as  that  of  the 
Roman  empire.  Notwithstanding  every  prohibition, 
the  immolation  of  animals  continued  to  be  practiced 
with  the  greatest  frequency  and  publicity.  When  St. 
Ambrose  was  in  Rome,  every  place,  he  said,  was  in- 
fected with  the  fumes  of  impure  .•jacrifices,  and  the 
idols  were  elevated  on  all  sides,  as  if  to  provoke  the 
divine  anger. 

THE  FIFTH  CENTURY. 

THK    MONK     TKT.KMACHUS    ENDSTHK    <;  t  a  t»i  v  r.  »u.  i  ^  I 
GAMKS. 

"The  first  Christian  emperor.  Constanttiie,"  says 
Gibbon,  "may  claim  the  honor  of  the  first  edict  that 
condemned  the  art  and  amusement  of  shedding  human 
blood,  but  this  benevolent  law  expressed  the  wishes  of 
the  prince  without   reforming  an  inveterate  abui>e  Ta 


"266  THE  FIFTH  CENTURY, 

most  solemn  and  sacred  portion  however,  of  pagan 
worship),  which  degraded  a  civilized  nation  below  the 
condition  of  savage  cannibals." 

These  inhuman  rites  of  paganism  had  not  been 
spared  by  the  Christian  apologists  even  under  the 
reign  of  persecution.  "Whoever,"  says  Lactantius, 
"takes  delight  in  seeing  the  blood  even  of  a  criminal 
justly  condemned  to  death,  befouls  his  conscience. 
But  the  pagans  have  turned  the  shedding  of  human 
blood  into  a  pastime.  So  totally  has  humanity 
receded  from  the  human  breast,  that  it  is  deemed  an 
amusement  to  abet  murder,  and  to  sacrifice  human 
life.  Now,  I  ask,  can  those  be  called  just  and  pious, 
who  not  only  suffer  to  be  slam  one  who  lies  prostrate 
under  a  drawn  sword,  supplicating  for  life,  but  who 
demand  that  he  be  murdered;  who  give  their  cruel  and 
inhuman  suffrages  for  death,  not  satiated  with  the 
wounds  and  gore  of  their  haplCvSs  victim  ?  Nay,  when 
stretched  dead  before  them  on  the  sand,  they  com- 
mand the  lifeless  and  bleeding  body  t^  be  stabbed  over 
and  over  again,  and  cut  and  mangled,  lest  they  should 
be  deluded  by  a  sham  homicide.  They  become  furious 
with  the  combatants  who  do  not  quickly  despatch  each 
other;  and  as  if  they  thirsted  for  human  blood,  cannot 
bear  delay.  Each  company  of  new  comers,  as  they 
pour  into  the  Circus,  vociferate  for  fresh  victims  that 
they  may  satiate  their  eyes." 

Christianity  had  not  ceased  to  raise  its  voice  against 
the  atrocious  practice;  but  paganism  mocked  at  the 
scruples  and  pusillanimity  of  Christianity  from  the 
couches  of  its  mighty  temple.  Honorius  renewed  the 
prohibitory  law  of  Constantine  but  to  no  purpose;  the 
arena  of  the  Coliseum  still  smoked  with    human    gore, 


THE  MONK  TELEMACHUS.  267 

when  suddenly,  and  forever  it  was  stopped  by  the 
monk  Telemachus. 

Faraway  in  the  depths  of  the  Lybian  desert,  he  had 
heard  that  the  Coliseum  of  Rome  was  still  reeking 
with  the  blood  of  human  victims.  Perhaps  a  descrip- 
tion of  its  horrors  was  given  to  him  by  some  fugitive 
penitent  who  had  learned  the  emptiness  and  dangers 
of  the  world,  and  had  fled  to  solitude  to  prepare  for 
eternity.  He  conceived  the  idea  of  making  a  gener- 
ous effort  to  destroy  this  brutal  passion;  he  felt  that 
something  should  be  done,  even  though  he  should 
have  to  leave  the  desert,  and  shed  his  own  blood  in 
the  undertaking  Long  and  fervently  did  he  recom- 
mend the  thought  to  God.  In  unbroken  nights  of 
prayer  and  austerities,  in  many  tears  and  deep  humil- 
ity, he  prayed  for  some  token  of  the  Divine  Will. 
What  could  he  do,  he  thought,  a  poor,  ignorant 
hermit,  slow  of  speech,  bare- footed,  and  clothed  in 
coarse  sackcloth  ?  Kings  and  popes  and  martyrs  had 
failed  to  eradicate  the  evil,  yet  would  he  succeed  ? 
Fearing  some  delusion  of  Satan,  he  paused  and 
doubted,  but  grace  urged  him  on,  an  interior  voice 
said  to  him,  "I  can  do  all  things  in  Him  who  strength- 
ens me."  He  penetrated  deeper  into  the  trackless 
wilds  of  the  desert  to  consult  an  old  and  experienced 
anchoret,  a  di.sciple  of  the  great  Paul,  the  first  to 
sanctify  those  homely  regions.  The  aged  monk  told 
him  to  go,  for  God  had  accepted  his  sacrifices. 

At  length  he  seizes  his  staff,  and  with  many  tears, 
bids  farewell  to  his  beloved  cell,  his  rude  cross,  and 
the  little  stream  who.se  constant  murmurs  joined  him 
in  the  prai.ses  of  God.  The  desert  was  a  home  of  de- 
lights, but  the  world  before  him  was  dark  and  gloomy. 


268  THE  FIFTH  CENTURY. 

No  soldier  ever  moved  with  braver  step  to  the  battle- 
field than  Telemachus  to  his  combat  with  the  proud 
passions  of  men.  He  moves  on  through  crowded 
cities,  through  cultivated  plains,  and  wild  mountain 
passes, — he  seeks  no  roof  but  the  open  canopy  of 
heaven;  the  stone  in  the  desert  has  been  the  only 
pillow  he  has  used  for  years  past.  After  a  journey  of 
weeks  and  months,  and  perhaps  years,  at  length, 
wearied,  footsore  but  delighted,  he  arrived  beneath 
the  walls  of  the  Eternal  City.  The  brilliant  sun  of 
heaven  was  reflected  from  the  glittering  domes  of  the 
imperial  metropolis  of  the  world.  The  eyes  of  the 
poor  monk  were  dazzled  with  the  gorgeous  temples, 
and  seemingly  endless  vistas  of  marble  columns  bound- 
ing palaces  and  theatres  on  every  side  in  magnificence 
such  as  fancy  would  paint  in  the  land  of  dreams.  He 
enters  the  city,  and  moves  through  its  crowded  streets 
unconscious  of  the  universal  gaze  of  the  people,  attract- 
ed by  his  extraordinary  dress.  Some  laugh,  others 
insult  him,  all  despise  the  poor  monk,  who  is  being  led 
on  to  a  sublime  destiny. 

So  far  as  we  can  learn,  it  w^as  on  the  morning  of  the 
ist.  of  January,  A.  D.  404,  that  Telemachus  entered 
Rome.  The  games  usually  celebrated  during  the 
calends  of  January  were  inaugurated  at  the  expense  of 
some  rich  senator;  and  although  far  inferior  in  magni- 
ficence, they  exceeded  in  brutality  the  spectacles  of  the 
golden  age.  Telemachus  moved  with  the  crowd 
towards  the  amphitheatre.  When  he  mounted  the 
Capitol,  with  its  fifty  temples  still  smoking  with  the 
sacrifices  of  abomination,  he  shuddered.  What  were 
his  emotions  when  another  moment  brought  the 
mighty  amphitheatre  into  full  view?     It    rose  in   the 


THE  MONK  TELEMACHUS.  269 

valley  beneath  the  Capitol  with  stupendous  majesty, 
towering  over  the  temples  and  arches  that  lined  the 
Forum — immense  like  pyramids  he  had  seen  in  his 
journey  through  Egypt,  more  beautiful  than  anything 
that  had  met  his  gaze  in  that  city  of  wonders,  and 
raised  in  the  air,  apparently  higher  than  the  surround- 
ing hills,  with  a  solidity  that  would  seem  to  defy  decay 
or  the  ravages  of  time.  He  descended  the  way  of 
triumph,  one  of  the  greatest  the  world  had  ever  seen. 
He  passed  under  arches  where  noble  martyrs  had  been 
often  dragged  to  be  martyred  by  wild  beasts,  and  a  cold 
feeling  of  horror  passed  over  him,  as  he  looked  for  the 
first  time  at  the  blood-stained  arena,  whose  horrors  had 
haunted  his  dreams,  whose  destruction  was  the  un- 
<:easing  petition  of  his  prayer.  It  was  early  in  the  day 
and  the  games  had  not  yet  commenced;  the  people 
were  pouring  into  the  benches;  he  took  a  seat  and 
heedless  of  the  buzz  of  a  thousand  voices  around  him, 
in  a  few  minutes  became  wrapt  in  communion  with 
God,  as  if  he  were  praying  by  the  banks  of  his  little 
stream  in  the  desert. 

Wrapt  in  prayer,  with  hands  folded  on  his  breast, 
he  seemed  to  the  Romans  as  a  vision  from  the  other 
world.  His  dress  and  strange  appearance,  the  halo 
of  sanctity  sufifu.sed  around  ihe  servant  of  God,  some- 
thing that  can  never  be  concealed,  caused  the  gather- 
ing crowd  to  gaze  on  him  with  mingled  sentiments  of 
contempt,  surpiise,  and  reverence.  Who  or  what  is 
he?  was  asked  by  each  wondering  stranger  as  he  sud- 
denly stopped  short  to  gaze  on  the  extraordinary  ap- 
parition that  sat  motionless  on  one  of  the  benches. 
Some  thought  him  a  poor  fool  not  to  be  minded;  oth- 
ers said  he  was  a  truant  slave  from  the  Hast;  others 


270  THE  FIFTH  CENTURY. 

again,  that  perhaps  he  was  a  messenger  from  the  ora- 
cles, for  those  important  persons  were  generally  clothed 
fantastically,  and  wrapped  in  mystery  and  gloom. 
But  another  moment  will  show  them  that  he  indeed  is 
a  messenger  from  the  oracles  of  Eternal  Wisdom  to 
teach  the  world  the  great  truths  of  Divine  revelation. 

The  games  have  commenced.  The  monk  is  aroused 
from  his  reverie  by  the  inhuman  shout  that  hails  the 
first  batch  of  combatants.  Four  stout,  fierce-looking 
men  have  bounded  into  the  arena;  they  feign  cheerful 
looks^  and  each  one  is  certain  of  being  victorious. 
They  march  round  the  arena,  that  the  people  may  se- 
lect their  favorites  to  bet  on,  and  anticipate  victory. 
As  they  pass,  they  salute  their  friends.  In  spite  of 
their  efforts  to  smile  bravely  on  death,  their  counte- 
nances bear  the  pallid  stamp  of  desperation,  and  na- 
ture betrays  her  fear  of  dissolution.  It  was  a  blind 
fury  that  made  them  hasten  to  the  combat,  not  what 
the  Romans  call  bravery.  Now  they  are  measuring 
swords  and  are  matched  by  the  prefect  of  the  games; 
they  pass  some  time  in  fencing  with  wooden  swords; 
then  come  the  glittering  steel  blades,  burnished  and 
brightened  for  the  deadly  struggle;  the  gladiators 
seize  them,  and  in  a  moment  the  game  of  bloodshed 
has  commenced.  At  the  sight  of  the  first  red  stream 
of  blood,  the  vast  multitude  arise,  and  ''hoc  haheV  re- 
sounds from  a  hundred  thousand  throats.  But  see, 
the  monk  has  risen;  he  flies  through  the  benches;  he 
leaps  over  the  rail  of  the  podium,  and  seizing  the  glad- 
iators with  giant  hand,  he  whirls  them  around  him. 

No  pen  could  describe  the  scene  that  followed.  The 
multitude  were  like  to  a  lion  deprived  of  his  prey. 
Never  did  the  old  walls  of  the  amphitheatre  ring  with 


THE  MONK  TELEMACHUS,  271 

a  louder  or  wilder  scream  of  frenzy;  at  the  very  mo- 
ment their  excitement  was  becoming  intense,  they 
were  thwarted  by  this  daring  stranger,  until  their  in- 
dignation was  roused  to  fury.  The  gladiators  were 
thunder  struck,  and  stood  in  terror  as  if  in  the  pres- 
ence of  a  supernatural  being.  The  monk  endeavored 
to  address  the  people,  but  they  hissed  and  hooted,  and 
screamed  with  fiendish  rage;  and,  at  length,  as  if  una- 
ble to  control  themselves  any  longer,  they  tore  up  the 
seats  and  benches,  and  quickly  a  shower  of  broken 
fragments  of  seats  and  pavement,  hurled  from  every 
side  of  the  amphitheatre  felled  poor  Telemachus  to  the 
ground.  He  knelt,  and  stretching  his  arms  towards 
heaven,  offered  his  life  as  some  atonement  for  the 
blood-shedding  of  the  Coliseum  The  martyr  of  char- 
ity fell,  and  covered  in  his  fall  one  of  the  darkest 
stains  of  the  arena.  The  sacrifice  was  accepted.  The 
Emperor  Honorius  immediately  prohibited  all  specta- 
cles in  the  Coliseum,  and  enforced  the  law  with  very 
severe  penalties.  In  the  noble  self-sacrifice  of  one  man. 
Christianity  expiated  in  part  the  crimes  of  three 
centuries. 

THE  NEMESIS. 

The  blood  of  the  Christian  martyrs  bad  cried  to 
heaven  for  vengeance.  The  pride  and  the  splendor  of 
imperial  Rome  were  now  about  to  l)e  humbled.  The 
barriers  of  the  Danube  were  thrown  opon;  the  savage 
warriors  of  Scythia  i.s.sued  from  their  forests;  and  the 
uncommon  severity  of  the  winter,  allowed  the  poet  to 
remark,  in  describing  their  invasion,  that  they  roll- 
ed their  ponderous  wagons  over  the  broad  and  icy  back 
of  the  indignant  river. 

"The  Goths,"    says    Gibbon,    "lu.stead   of    being 
Theodoret  ap,  LrKfiih, 


272  THE  FIFTH  CENTURY. 

impelled  as  heretofore  by  the  blind  and  headstrong 
passions  of  their  chiefs,  were  now  directed  by  the  bold 
and  artful  genius  of  Alaric.  That  renowned  leader 
was  descended  from  the  noble  race  of  the  Balti,  that 
yielded  only  to  the  royal  dignity  of  the  Amali." 

In  the  autumn  of  402,  he  forced  the  passes  of  the 
Julian  Alps,  and  descended,  like  a  whirlwind  of  fire 
and  blood,  upon  the  Frioul  and  the  province  of 
Venetia.  He  was  confronted  by  the  army  of  Honorius 
and  compelled  to  retreat  from  Italy,  but  sternly  deter- 
mined to  return  at  the  first  opportunity.  A  few  years 
afterwards  he  encompassed  the  walls  of  Rome,  com- 
manded the  twelve  principal  gates,  intercepted  all 
communication  with  the  adjoining  country,  and  dili- 
gently guarded  the  navigation  of  the  Tiber,  upon 
which  Rome  depended  for  the  sustenance  of  her 
immense  population. 

The  first  emotions  of  the  nobles  and  the  people, 
were  those  of  surprise  and  indignation,  that  a  vile 
barbarian  should  dare  to  insult  the  capital  of  the 
world.  But  their  arrogance  was  soon  humbled  by  mis- 
fortune. 

The  doomed  city  gradually  experienced  the  distress ' 
of  scarcity,  and  at  length  the  horrid  calamities  of 
famine.  The  poorer  citizens  who  were  unable  to  pur- 
chase the  necessaries  of  life,  solicited  the  precarious 
charities  of  the  rich,  and  for  a  while  the  public  misery 
was  alleviated  by  the  humanity  of  the  pious  Laeta,  the 
widow  of  the  emperor  Gratian,  who  had  fixed  her 
residence  at  Rome,  and  consecrated  to  the  use  of  the 
indigent,  the  princely  revenue  which  she  received  from 
the  grateful  successors  of  her  husband.  But  these 
private  and  temporary  donations   were  insufficient   to 


THE  NEMESIS,  273 

appease  the  hunger  of  a  numerons  people;  and  the 
progress  of  famine  invaded  the  marble  palaces  of  the 
senators  themselves.  The  persons  of  both  sexes  who 
had  been  reared  in  the  enjoyment  of  ease  and  luxury, 
discovered  how  little  is  requisite  to  supply  the  demands 
of  nature;  and  lavished  their  unavailing  treasures  of 
gold  and  silver  to  obtain  the  coarse  and  scanty  sus- 
tenance which  they  would  have  formerly  rejected  with 
disdain.  The  food  the  most  repugnant  to  sense  or 
imagination,  aliments  the  most  unwholesome  and 
pernicious  to  the  constitution,  were  eagerly  devoured 
and  fiercely  disputed  by  the  rage  of  hunger.  A  dark 
suspicion  was  entertained,  that  some  desperate  wretches 
fed  on  the  bodies  of  their  fellow  creatures  whom  they 
had  secretly  murdered;  and  even  mothers  (such  was 
the  horrid  conflict  of  the  two  most  powerful  instincts 
implanted  by  nature  in  the  human  breast),  even 
mothers  are  said  to  have  tasted  the  flesh  of  their 
slaughtered  infants. 

Many  thousands  of  the  inhabitants  expired  in  their 
houses,  or  in  the  street,  for  want  of  sustenance;  and 
as  the  public  sepulchres  without  the  walls  were  in  the 
power  of  the  enemy,  the  stench  that  arose  from  so 
many  putrid  and  unburied  carcasses  infected  the  air; 
and  the  miseries  of  famine  were  speedily  aggravated 
by  those  of  pestilence. 

In  this  extremity,  two  ambassadors.  Basilius.  who 
had  been  president  of  Spain,  and  John,  the  first  tribune 
of  the  Palatine  notaries,  were  appointed  by  the  senate, 
to  go  to  the  Gothic  camp,  and  sue  for  peace.  When 
they  were  introduced  into  the  tent  of  Alaric,  they 
maintained  a  haughty  bearing,  to  make  it  appear  that 
they  were  equally  prepared   for  war  as  for  peace. 


274  THE  FIFTH  CENTURY. 

They  said  that  if  the  king  of  the  Goths  refused  to  sign 
a  fair  and  honorable  capitulation,  he  might  sound  his 
trumpets,  and  prepare  to  give  battle  to  an  innumer- 
able people,  inured  to  arms,  and  animated  by  despair. 
**The  thicker  the  grass,  the!  easier  it  is  mowed,"  was 
the  reply  with  which  the  barbarian  mocked  them,  to 
the  great  amusement  of  his  generals  who  burst  into 
loud  and  insulting  laughter  at  this  stroke  of  rustic  wit. 
He  then  dictated  the  terms  on  which  alone  they  might 
expect  to  have  the  city  spared.  First,  the  surrender 
into  his  hands  of  all  the  gold  and  silver  within  the 
walls  of  Rome,  whether  it  belonged  to  the  state  or  to 
individuals;  all  the  rich  and  precious  movables;  and  all 
the  barbarians  detained  as  slaves. 

''If  such,  O  king!"  said  one  of  the  ambassadors, 
**are  the  things  you  must  have  from  us,  may  we  ask 
what  it  is  you  intend  to  leave  us?" 

"Your  lives,"  replied  the  haughty  conqueror. 
There  being  no  longer  any  human  hope,  it  was  re- 
solved by  the  Romans  to  resort  once  more  to  the  aid  of 
the  immortal  gods:  it  was  alleged  by  the  advocates  of 
the  measure,  that  the  city  of  Narmi,  had  been  recently 
saved  from  the  Goths  by  certain  mystic  rites  and  sac- 
rifices, of  the  Etruscans  who  were  then  in  Rome;  and 
these  same  execrable  practices — consisting  in  dark  in- 
cantations by  the  gore  of  murdeied  captives — were  sol- 
emnly performed  by  public  edict  on  the  Capitol.  It 
was  in  vain  that  the  Christian  senators  exclaimed 
against  this  horrible  impiety;  their  voice?  were  drowned 
in  enthusiastic  acclamations  for  the  restoration  of  pa- 
gan rites,  and  in  execrations  and  blasphemies  of  Christ. 
It  is  narrated  by  Sozomen,  that  the  most  reflecting  of 
the  Romans  looked  upon  the  calamities  of  the  city  as  a 


THE  NEMESIS.  275 

just  judgment  on  this  incorrigible  attachment  to 
idolatry. 

Notwithstanding  these  rites  of  propitiation,  the 
lightnings  of  Jupiter  Tonans  were  not  hurled  upon 
the  Gothic  tents,  to  which  another  embassy  soon  pro- 
ceeded, with  bearing  much  morfe  suppliant  than  the 
first.  The  lowest  price  of  mercy  was  fixed  by  the  bar- 
barian at  5,000  lbs.  of  gold,  30,000  pounds  of  silver, 
4,000  robes  of  silk,  3,000  pieces  of  fine  scarlet  cloth, 
and  3.000  lbs.  of  pepper,  a  favorite  ingredient  of  the 
best  Roman  cookery.  The  best  sort  was  commonly 
fifteen  denarii,  or  two  and  a  half  dollars  (U.  S.  money) 
the  pound. 

Enriched  by  the  contributions  of  the  capital,  the 
Goths  retired  to  winter  in  the  fair  and  fruitful  regions 
of  Tuscany;  but  before  they  abandoned  the  siege,  their 
standard  became  the  refuge  of  40,000  barbarian  slaves, 
who  had  broken  their  chains,  and  speedily  returned  to 
revenge  the  injuries  and  disgraces  they  bad  endured  in 
cruel  servitude. 

After  many  fruitless  negotiations,  touching  the  rati- 
fication by  the  Emperor  Honorius  of  the  terms  guaran- 
teed to  Alaric  by  the  senate,  the  Goth  proclaimed  his 
determination  to  visit  Rome  again.  The  eternal  city 
was  filled  with  consternation.  Attains  (who  after- 
wards figured  as  Roman  Emperor),  the  patrician  Ce- 
cilianus  and  Maximian,  were  sent  to  implore  the 
emperor's  assent  to  the  demands  upon  which  the  safety 
of  the  queen  of  cities  depended.  It  was  on  this  occa- 
sion that  Pope  Innocent  was  withdrawn,  as  Orosius 
says,  like  another  Lot.  from  the  doomed  city:  he  ac- 
companied the  ambassadors  to  Ravenna,  and  was 
spared  the  misery  of  witnessing  the  horrors  that 
ensued  soon  after. 


276  THE  FIFTH  CENTURY. 

The  result  of  the  second  investment  of  the  city  was, 
that  the  Romans,  senate  and  people,  throwing  off  alle- 
giance to  the  son  of  Theodosius,  appointed  at  the  dic- 
tation of  Alaric,  an  emperor  of  their  own.  Attains,  who 
was  to  ratify  the  conditions  rejected  by  Honorius. 
This  resolution  was  entirely  the  work  of  the  pagan 
faction,  who  became  elated  beyond  measure  at  the 
prospect  of  seeing  the  ancient  worship  again  trium- 
phant. Tertullus,  a  zealot  in  the  cause,  was  named 
consul  by  Attains,  who  had  been  himself  educated  a 
pagan,  and  all  the  Gentile  superstitions,  prescribed  by 
the  rubric  of  the  Capitol,  were  scrupulously  practiced 
at  his  inauguration.  In  his  opening  address  to  the 
senate,  he  congratulated  the  conscript  fathers  upon  the 
progress  already  made,  and  assured  them  that  what 
had  been  so  auspiciously  commenced  was  only  an  earn- 
est of  the  speedy  and  complete  accomplishment  of 
their  long  cherished  hopes.  The  consul  was,  if  possi- 
ble, outstripped  in  fervor  by  the  new  praetorian  pre- 
fect, Lampridius.  Zozimus  the  pagan  historian  adds, 
that  these  appointments  were  received  with  acclama- 
tions by  the  citizens,  and  that  the  Anicii,  firmly  at- 
tached to  Christianity,  stood  alone  in  their  discontent, 
and  their  murmurs  amidst  the  universal  exultation. 

The  reward  of  this  new  impiety  was  not  long  de- 
ferred. On  hearing  of  the  revolution  in  Rome,  the 
governor  of  Africa  immediately  laid  an  embargo  on  all 
ships  bound  for  Ostia  with  corn,  and  the  consequence 
was  another  famine  so  dire  that  the  Romans  began  to 
devour  the  most  revolting  matter. 

Many  were  the  Christians  who  viewed  these  dread- 
ful forerunners  of  the  worse  calamities  still  impending 
as  so  many  warnings  from  the  Divine  mercy,  by  which 


THE  NEMESIS.  Til 

the  stroke  of  justice  was  withheld,  until  the  most  am- 
ple opportunity  should  have  been  afforded  for  the  ob- 
durate to  repent,  and  for  the  escape  of  the  faithful. 
We  meet  with  the  names  of  Paulina,  Pamachius, 
Paula,  Fabiola,  and  others  of  patrician  rank,  who  took 
refuge  chiefly  at  Bethlehem,  after  exhausting  their 
fortunes  in  relieving  the  public  distress.  In  the  little 
woody  island  of  Igilium  (now  called  Giglio)  great 
numbers  sought  shelter;  others  fled  to  the  forests  and 
most  inaccessible  crags  and  fastnesses  of  the  Appe- 
nines;  but  next  to  the  East,  the  greatest  number  di- 
rected their  flight  towards  the  shores  of  Africa,  where 
many  fugitives  of  rank  held  ample  patrimonies. 
Amongst  these  was  Proba,  the  illustrious  widow  of 
Petronius,  who  had  been  prefect  of  the  city,  and 
ranked  as  the  first  subject  of  the  empir^.  Her  for- 
tune was  princely — three  of  her  sons  had  been  hon- 
ored each  with  the  office  of  consul — but  so  great  was  this 
Christian  lady's  piety  and  fortitude,  that  she  not  only 
beheld  her  palaces  in  flames  with  resignation,  from  the 
little  bark  wafting  her  out  to  sea,  but  could  hardly 
contain  herself  for  joy  at  having  the  beautiful  empress 
Laeta,  her  own  widowed  child,  and  her  grand-daugh- 
ter, the  virgin  Demetrias,  by  her  side. 

It  is  stated  by  Socrates,  the  ecclesiastical  writer,  that 
Alaric's  object  in  causing  Attains  to  be  invested  with 
the  purple,  was,  that  in  his  person  the  imperial  dig- 
nity might  be  disgraced  and  exposed  to  derision;  and 
that  with  this  view  he  was  one  day  paraded  with  all 
the  pomp  and  majesty  of  a  Roman  emperor,  and  the 
next  exhibited  to  be  mocked  in  the  habit  and  abject 
condition  of  a  slave.  The  first  and  most  solemn  of 
these  scenes  of  mockery  was  made  an  entertainment  for 


278  THE  FIFTH  CENTURY. 

the  Goths,  just  as  they  were  on  the  point  of  marching 
against  Rome  for  the  last  time.  They  were  marshal- 
led under  arms  in  a  great  plain  near  Rimini,  not  far 
from  where  Caesar  crossed  the  Rubicon;  and  when  At- 
tains (after  being  conducted  with  imperial  state,  at- 
tended by  his  principal  officers,  TertuUus,  the  consul; 
the  praetorian  prefect,  Lampridius,  and  a  gorgeous  re- 
tinue of  guards  and  courtiers)  had  been  ignominiously 
stripped  of  the  purple  and  the  diadem,  in  full  view  of 
an  immense  concourse  of  both  Romans  and  barbarians, 
the  order  to  march  was  received  with  savage  exulta- 
tion, mingled  with  peals  of  laughter  at  the  mock  maj- 
esty and  sudden  downfall  of  the  Roman  emperor. 
Thenceforth,  nothing  but  rapine  and  vengeance,  so 
long  deferred,  were  in  their  sanguinary  thoughts. 
They  rushed  like  hungry  lions  upon  their  prey.  This 
seems  to  have  been  the  occasion  on  which  a  holy  her- 
mit threw  himself  in  the  way  of  the  Gothic  king,  in  a 
narrow  defile  of  the  Appenines.  *  'Servant  of  heaven, ' ' 
cried  Aiaric,  "seek  not  to  turn  me  from  my  mission. 
It  is  not  from  choice  that  I  lead  my  army  against  that 
devoted  place,  but  some  invisible  power  that  will  not 
suffer  me  to  halt  a  single  day,  urges  me  on  by  violence, 
continually  crying  out  to  me  without  ceasing,  'For- 
ward, march  upon  that  city,  upon  Rome,  and  make  it 
desolate!'  " 

"At  the  hour  of  midnight,"  says  Gibbon,  the  Sal- 
arian  gate  was  silently  opened,  and  the  Romans  were 
suddenly  awakened  by  the  tremendous  sound  of  the 
Gothic  trumpet."  Thus  was  the  mystical  Babylon, 
like  its  prophetic  type,  the  city  of  Baltassar  surprised 
in  the  midst  of  its  security.  "It  was  by  night,"  says 
St.  Jerome  that  Moab  fell;  its  wall  was   laid   prostrate 


THE  NEMESIS.  279 

by  night."  For  although  beleaguered  by  the  barbar- 
ians )with  whom  they  were  as  if  familiarized  by  the 
preceding  sieges, )  the  Romans  had  such  confidence  in 
their  lofty  rock-built  walls,  that,  like  the  Babylonians 
when  the  Persians  surrounded  their  city,  the  denizens 
of  the  eternal  city  fevelled,  and  then  retired  to  their 
beds,  without  the  slightest  shadow  of  apprehension. 
Procopius  says,  the  Senators  were  asleep  as  the  Goths 
were  entering  the  gate. 

"The  cruelties  exercised  on  this  occasion,"  says  the 
Italian  annalist  "one  cannot  relate  without  emotion." 

The  city  constructed  as  it  were  of  the  spoils  and  over- 
flowing with  the  tributes  of  so  many  nations  was  now 
at  the  mercy  of  the  infuriated  barbarians.  They  were 
lighted  on  their  way  by  flaming  palaces  and  temples 
from  the  Villa  of  Sallust — a  perfect  sanctuary  and  >?:ar- 
den  of  Epicurus — on  to  the  Suburra,  the  Forum,  the 
Capitol;  and  above  all,  to  the  golden  palaces  of  Nero. 
They  were  gnided  in  the  pursuit  of  plunder,  and  of 
blood  guiltiness,  by  the  forty  thousand  fugitives  who 
labored  during  the  night  of  horrors  with  more  as- 
siduity than  they  had  ever  exerted  under  their  task- 
master's stripes  to  requite  the  offices  they  had  re- 
ceived at  Roman  hands,  and  to  wash  out  in  patrician 
gore  the  hateful  vestiges  of  their  chains.  The  crimes, 
not  to  be  named,  that  Rome  had  so  often  perpetrated 
during  the  sieges,  and  massacres  and  burnings  of  a 
thousand  years,  were  now  retaliated,  rigorously,  on 
herself.  Her  nobles  were  subjected  to  tortures  the  most 
cruel  and  ignominious,  to  wring  from  them  their  hid- 
den treasures;  the  plel>eians  were  mowed  down  in  such 
multitudes  that  the  survivors  found  it  very  difficult  to 
inter  all  of  the  slain.     The  Forum,  the  Circus,  and  the 


280  THE  FIFTH  CENTURY. 

Coliseum, — the  Capitol,  the  streets,  the  theaters,  baths 
and  temples, — ran  with  blood;  the  seven-hilled  city 
was  in  flames;  the  trophies  and  monuments,  in  which 
the  lords  of  the  earth  most  prided  themselves,  were 
the  chief  objects  of  Gothic  rage;  and  it  was  said  by 
eye-witnesses  of  these  terrors,  that  the  trophies,  tem- 
ples, and  other  public  edifices,  that  defied  by  their 
solidity  the  brands  of  the  barbarians,  were  struck  with 
thunderbolts  from  heaven. 

The  sack  continued,  according  to  Orosius  for  three, 
according  to  Count  Marcellinus,  for  six  days.  Both 
accounts  are  consistent.  When  the  immensity  of  the 
Gothic  forces  is  considered,  and  how  enormous  was  the 
plunder  to  be  partitioned  and  loaded  in  the  trains  of 
wagons,  that  moved,  interspersed  with  droves  of  cap- 
tives along  the  Appian  Way,  as  if  they  would  hardly 
ever  cease,  it  may  be  well  supposed,  that  the  rear- 
guard did  not  issue  from  the  gates  for  three  days  after 
Alaric  had  sounded  a  retreat. 

"In  the  pillage  of  Rome,"  says  Gibbon,  "a  just  pre- 
ference was  given  to  gold  and  jewels,  which  contain 
the  greatest  value  in  proportion  to  their  weight;  but 
after  these  portable  riches  had  been  removed  by  the 
more  diligent  robbers,  the  palaces  of  Rome  were  rudely 
stripped  of  their  splendid  and  costly  furniture.  The 
side  boards  of  massy  plate,  and  the  variegated  ward- 
robes of  silk  and  purple,  were  irregularly  piled  in  the 
wagons  that  always  followed  in  the  wake  of  a  Gothic 
army.  The  most  exquisite  works  of  art  were  roughly 
handled,  or  wantonly  destroyed;  many  a  statue  was 
melted  for  sake  of  the  precious  materials,  and  many  a 
vase,  in  the  division  of  the  spoil,  was  shivered  into 
fragments  by  the  stroke  of  a  battle-axe.     The  acquisi- 


THE  NEMESIS  281 

tioii  of  riches  served  only  to  stimulate  the  avarice  of  the 
rapacious  barbarians,  who  proceeded,  by  threats,  by 
blows,  and  by  tortures,  to  force  from  their  prisoners 
the  confession  of  hidden  treasures." 

From  the  palaces  and  temples  of  the  city,  the  minis- 
ters of  rapine  and  conflagration  spread  themselves  over 
the  voluptuous  garden  of  Italy.  The  beauteous  re- 
gions of  Campania  were  laid  waste  with  fire  and  sword. 
The  towns,  from  Baiae  and  Capua  to  Tarentum  and 
Rhegium  were  sacked.  Those  villas,  which  formed 
the  chief  delight  of  the  Roman  nobility  in  their  day  of 
pride,  were  stripped  of  their  exquisite  furniture,  and 
after  having  been  made  the  scenes  of  outrage  and  in- 
sult to  the  sons  and  daughters  of  their  once  lordly  own- 
ers, were  laid  in  ruins.  Nor  was  the  brand  of  ven- 
geance to  be  extinguished,  even  in  the  grave  of  Alaric, 
drenched  though  it  was  by  the  Rpman  gore  of  the 
captives  whom  they  forced  to  dig  deep  in  a  river's  bed, 
ani  though  filled  with  the  spoils  and  proudest  trophies 
of  Rome. 

The  city  was  doomed  to  another  visit,  when  Adol- 
phus,  the  successor  of  Alaric.  led  back  the  Goths  from 
plundering  Campania;  and  among  his  captives  was 
Galla  Placidia,  a  princess,  not  less  renowned  for  her 
beauty  than  for  her  rank,  and  the  singular  vicissitudes 
of  her  life.  She  soon  after  became  the  bride  of  the 
Gothic  conqueror.  The  nuptial  gift,  which  according 
to  the  custom  of  this  nation  was  offered  to  Placidia,  by 
her  Gothic  lord,  consisted  of  the  rare  and  magnificent 
spoils  of  her  fallen  country.  Fifty  basins  filled  with 
pieces  of  gold,  and  fifty  filled  with  jewels  of  inestima- 
ble value,  were  borne  by  fifty  beautiful  patrician  youths 
in  brilliant  attire,  and  placed  at  the  foot  of  the  throne, 


282  THE  FIFTH  CENTURY. 

where  the  captive  bride  sat  adorned  as  a  Roman  em- 
press; and  that  nothing  might  be  wanting  to  the  sports 
of  fortune,  the  Roman  emperor,  Attains,  was  appointed 
to  lead  the  chorus  of  the  hymeneal  song,  amidst  the 
derisive  applause  of  the  barbarians.  Thus  ended  the 
siege  of  Alaric. 

THE  NUN  AND  THE  SACRED  VESSELS. 

During  the  siege  Alaric  proclaimed  that  he  warred 
not  against  St.  Peter.  He  ordered  the  churches  and 
places  consecrated  to  Christian  purposes  to  be  re- 
spected; appointed  the  two  great  basilicas  of  the  apos- 
tles as  inviolable  sanctuaries  of  refuge;  and  so  strictly 
was  this  order  observed,  that  the  barbarians  not  only 
halted  in  the  career  of  slaughter  on  arriving  at  these 
hallowed  precincts,  but  many  of  tliem  conducted 
thither  such  as  had  moved  them  to  pity,  that  under 
the  protection  of  the  apostles,  they  might  be  saved 
from  the  rage  of  others,  who  might  not  be  found 
equally  compassionate. 

"It  happened,"  says  Orosius,"  as  the  barbarians 
were  rushing  in  every  direction  through  the  city  in 
quest  of  plunder,  that  a  sacred  virgin,  who  had  grown 
old  in  the  Divine  service,  to  which  she  had  conse- 
crated her  entire  being,  was  discovered  in  her  convent 
by  a  Gothic  chief,  who  demanded  all  the  gold  and  sil- 
ver in  her  possession.  She  replied  with  Christian  com- 
posure, that  the  treasures  in  her  keeping  were  indeed 
immense,  but  while  the  Goth  stood  in  admiration  and 
astonishment,  gazing  at  the  splendid  hoard  of  massy 
gold  and  silver  vessels  that  she  revealed,  the  virgin  of 
Christ  observed,  'Before  you  are  the  sacred  vessels 
used  in  the  divine  niy>teries,  at  the  altar  of  St.  Peter 


THE  NUN  AND  THE  SACRED  VESSELS.      283 

the  apostle;  presume  to  touch  them  if  you  be  so 
minded;  but  mark,  the  consequences  of  your  sacrilege 
shall  be  upon  your  head;  as  for  me,  too  feeble  to  defend 
them,  I  shall  not  vainly  attempt  resistance.' 

"Struck  with  reverence  and  religious  awe,  and  not 
a  little  moved  by  the  holy  enthusiasm  of  the  nun,  the 
chief,  without  attempting  to  lay  his  hand  upon  the 
sacred  treasure,  sent  intelligence  of  what  had  hap- 
pened to  King  Alaric.  An  instant  and  peremptory 
order  w^as  returned,  to  have  all  the  vessels  promptly 
conveyed,  just  as  they  were,  to  the  basilica  of  the 
apostle;  and  to  guard  and  protect  the  nun.  and  all  the 
other  Christians,  who  should  chance  to  join  the  pro- 
cession. 

"The  convent  was  situated  on  the  Caelian  Mount 
(probably  near  the  Lateran),  so  that  the  greater  part 
of  the  city  had  to  be  traversed — a  very  great  distance 
— in  order  to  reach  St.  Peter's.  It  was  then  that  an 
astounding  spectacle  presented  itself  to  the  eyes  of  all. 
Through  the  greatest  thoroughfares  of  the  city,  and 
amidst  all  the  horrors  of  that  night,  a  solemn  train  is 
seen  advancing,  with  the  same  order  and  measured 
step  as  if  it  moved,  not  through  scenes  of  slaughter, 
violence,  and  conflagration,  but  through  hallowed 
aisles,  on  some  joyous  festival. 

A  martial  retinue  of  the  Goths  marched  as  a  guard 
of  honor  to  adorn  the  triumph  with  their  glittering 
arms,  and  to  defend  their  devout  companions,  who 
bore  the  sacred  vessels  of  massy  gold  and  silver  aloft 
upon  their  heads.  The  voices  of  the  barbarians  are 
united  with  those  of  the  Romans  to  .swell  the  hymns  of 
Christian  praise;  and  these  sounds  are  heard,  like  the 
trumpet  of  salvation  re  echoing  far  and  wide  through 


284  THE   FIFTH  CENTURY, 

the  destruction  of  the  city.  The  Christians  start  in 
their  hiding  places,  as  they  recognize  the  celestial  can- 
ticles, and  crowd  from  every  direction  to  follow  the 
procession  of  the  Sacred  Vessels.  Even  numbers  of 
pagans,  joining  loudly  in  the  hymn  of  Christ,  take 
part  in  the  procession;  and  thus  escape  under  the 
shadow  of  the  sacred  name,  that  they  may  live  to  assail 
it  with  greater  violence  than  ever.  Joined  by  the 
fugitives  from  every  side,  the  pageant  seems  almost 
endless,  and  in  proportion  as  it  is  lengthened  by  new 
accessions,  the  barbarians  vie  with  each  other  for  the 
privilege  of  marching  as  guards,  on  either  side  of  it, 
armed  with  their  battle-axes  and  naked  swords." 

Thus  it  was  that  Heaven  displayed  its  power  to  con- 
duct the  objects  of  its  solicitude,  through  the  very 
midst  of  despair  and  death,  to  a  harbour  of  safety;  the 
city  was  as  it  were  sifted  of  the  Christians  that  still 
remained  in  it,  by  means  of  this  procession.  In  the 
very  crisis  of  ruin,  they  were  separated  and  saved  from 
the  common  havoc,  as  if  by  heavenly  intervention. 
But  the  most  astonishing  feature  of  the  case  was  the 
sudden  transition  of  the  Goths  from  fury  to  mildness. 
They  abandoned  the  pursuit  of  plunder,  and  wielded 
their  reeking  weapons  to  protect  the  lives  and  treas- 
ures of  their  vanquished  enemies. 

THE  GHOST  OF  GAMALIEI.. 
Three  centuries  of  martyrdom  having  passed  away, 
it  pleased  God  to  honor  the  relics  of  all  the  martyrs  in 
the  person  of  the  first,  known  as  St.  Stephen  the 
Proto-Martyr.  St.  Stephen  was  the  chief  of  the  seven 
deacons  presented  to  the  apostles,  who,  praying,  im- 
posed hands  upon  them,  to  qualify  them  to  become 


THE  GHOST  OF   GAMALIEL.  285- 

ministers  of  God's  holy  mysteries.  The  rich  sold  their 
estates  to  relieve  the  necessities  of  the  poor,  and  de- 
posited the  money  in  one  common  treasury.  One 
charge  of  the  deacons  was  to  distribute  this  money 
according  to  the  necessities  of  each  poor  applicant. 
The  false  charge  of  blasphemy  being  brought  against 
St.  Stephen  he  was  dragged  before  the  Sanhedrim,  and 
ordered  to  defend  himself.  Accordingly  he  began  by 
boldly  preaching  Jesus  Christ.  He  added,  that  as 
their  father  had  persecuted  and  slain  many  of  the 
prophets;  so  they  themselves  had  betrayed  and  cruci- 
fied Jesus  Christ  himself  who  had  become  man  to  re- 
deem them. 

This  stinging  reproach  touched  them  to  the  quick, 
and  kindled  them  into  a  rage,  gnashing  with  their 
teeth  at  the  holy  martyr,  and  expressing  all  the 
symptoms  of  unbridled  passion.  The  saint  not  heed- 
ing what  was  done  below,  had  his  eyes  and  heart  5xed 
on  higher  objects,  and  being  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
and  looking  up  steadfastly  to  the  heavens,  saw  them 
opened,  and  beheld  his  Divine  Saviour  standing  at  the 
right  hand  of  the  Father,  appearing  by  that  posture 
ready  to  protect,  receive  and  crown  his  servant.  With 
this  vision  the  saint  was  inexpressibly  affected;  his 
soul  was  inspired  with  new  courage,  and  a  longing  to 
arrive  at  that  bliss,  a  glimpse  of  which  was  shown 
him.  His  lieart  overflowed  with  joy.  and  in  an 
ecstasy,  not  being  able  to  forbear  expressing  his  happi- 
ness in  the  very  midst  of  his  enemies,  he  said, 
"Behold  I  see  the  heavens  opened  and  the  Son  of  man 
standing  at  the  right  hand  of  God.'*  The  persecutors 
became  more  hardened  and  enraged,  on  hearing  the 
saint's  declaration  of  this  vision,  and  calling  him  ,^a 


^86  THE  FIFTH  CENTURY, 

blasphemer,  resolved  upon  his  death  without  any 
further  process.  In  the  fury  of  their  blind  zeal,  they 
staid  not  for  a  judicial  sentence,  nor  for  the  warrant  of 
the  Roman  governor,  without  which  no  one  could  at 
that  time  be  legally  put  to  death  amongst  them,  but 
stopping  their  ears  against  his  supposed  blasphemies, 
they  with  great  clamor  rushed  upon  him,  furiously 
dragged  him  out  of  the  city,  and  with  a  tempest  of 
stones  satiated  their  rage  against  him.  In  the  mean 
time,  the  holy  martyr  prayed,  saying,  Lord  Jesus, 
receive  my  spirit\  and  on  his  knees,  he  cried  with  a  loud 
voice,  and  the  greatest  earnestness,  Lord,  lay  not  this 
sin  to  their  charge.  When  he  had  said  this,  he  fell 
asleep  in  the  Lord.  St.  Stephen  suffered  this  painful 
martyrdom  of  stoning  and  as  we  shall  see,  was  buried 
about  twenty  miles  from  Jerusalem,  by  the  direction 
of  Gamaliel  and  at  his  expense. 

Four  hundred  years  having  nearly  elapsed  the  very 
remembrance  of  the  place  of  his  burial  had  been 
blotted  out  of  the  minds  of  men,  and  his  relics  lay  con- 
cealed under  an  old  tomb,  in  a  place  twenty  miles 
from  Jerusalem  called  Caphargamala,  that  is,  borough 
of  Gamaliel,  where  stood  a  church  served  by  a  vener- 
able priest  named  Lucian.  In  the  year  415,  in  the 
tenth  of  Honorius  and  the  sixth  of  Theodosius  the 
Younger,  on  Friday  the  3rd  of  December,  about  nine 
o'clock  at  night,  Lucian  was  vsleeping  in  his  bed,  in 
the  baptistery  where  he  usually  lay,  in  order  to  guard 
the  sacred  vessels  of  the  church.  Being  half -awake, 
he  saw  a  tall,  comely  old  man  of  a  venerable  aspect, 
with  a  long  white  beard,  clothed  in  a  white  garment 
edged  with  small  plates  of  gold,  marked  with  crosses, 
and  holding  a  golden  wand  in  his  hand.      This  person 


THE  GHOST  OF  GAMALIEL.  287 

approached  Lucian,  and  calling  him  by  his  name  three 
times,    bade  him  go  to   Jerusalem,    and  tell   Bishop 
John  to  come  and  open  the  tombs  in  which  his  remains, 
and  those  of  certain  other  servants  of  Christ   lay,  that 
through  their  means,  God  might  open  to  many  the 
gates  of  His  clemency.     Lucian  asked  his  name.     "I 
am,"  said    he,    "Gamaliel  who  instructed    Paul    the 
apostle  in  the  law;  and  on  the  East  side  of  the  monu- 
ment  lieth   Stephen   who   was  stoned  by  the  Jews, 
without  the  North  gate.       His  body   was  left  there 
exposed  one  day  and  one  night,  but  was   not  touched 
by  birds  or  beasts.     I  exhorted  the  faithful  to  carry  it 
off  in  the  night-time,   which  when  they  had  done,  I 
caused  it  to  be  carried  secretly  to  my  house  in  the 
country,  where   I   celebrated   his  funeral  rites  forty 
days,  and  then  caused  his  body  to  be  laiid  in  my  own 
tomb  to  the  eastward.     Nicodemus,  who  came  to  Jesus 
by  night,  lieth  there  in  another  coffin.     He  was  ex- 
communicated by  the  Jews  for  following  Christ,  and 
banished  out  of  Jerusalem.     Whereupon    I    received 
him  into  my  house  in  the  country,  and  there  main- 
tained him,  to  the  end  of  his  life;  after  his  death,  I 
buried  him  honorably  near  Stephen.     I  likewise  buried 
there  my  son  Abibas,  who  died  at  the  age  of  twenty 
years.     His  body  is   in  the  third   coffin   that  stands 
higher  up,  where  I  myself  also  was  interred  after  my 
death.     My  wife  Kthna.  and  my  eldest  son  Semelias, 
who  were  not  willing  to  embrace  the  faith  of  Christ, 
were  buried  in  another  ground,  called  Capharaemalia.** 
Lucian  fearing  to  pass  as  an   imposter,  if  he   were 
too  credulous,  prayed,    that   if   the  vision  were  from 
God,  he  might  be  favored  with  it  a  second  and  a  third 
time,  and   he   continued  to  fast  on  bread  ami    waier 


288  THE  FIFTH  CENTURY, 

On  the  Friday  following,  Gamaliel  appeared  to  him 
again  in  the  same  form  as  before,  and  commanded  him 
to  obey.  As  emblems  of  the  relics,  he  brought  and 
showed  Lucian  four  baskets,  three  of  gold  and  one  of 
silver.  The  golden  baskets  were  full  of  roses,  two  of 
white  and  one  of  red  roses;  the  silver  basket  was  full 
of  saffron  of  most  fragrant  smell.  I^ucian  asked  what 
these  were.  Gamaliel  said,  "They  are  our  relics. 
The  red  roses  represent  Stephen,  who  lieth  at  the 
entrance  of  the  sepulchre;  the  second  basket,  Nico- 
demus,  who  is  near  the  door;  the  silver  basket  repre- 
sents my  son  Abibas,  who  departed  this  life  without 
stain;  his  basket  is  contiguous  to  mine."  Having  said 
this,  he  disappeared.  lyucian  then  awaked,  gave 
thanks  to  God.  and  continued  his  fasts.  In  the  third 
week,  on  the  same  day,  and  at  the  same  hour,  Gamaliel 
appeared  to  him  again,  and  with  threats  upbraided  him 
with  neglect,  adding  that  punishment  would  follow  his 
disobedience.  Lucian  being  now  terrified,  promised  he 
would  no  longer  defer  it. 

After  this  last  vision,  he  repaired  to  Jerusalem,  and 
laid  the  whole  affair  before  Bishop  John,  who  wept  for 
joy,  and  bade  him  go  and  search  for  the  relics,  which 
the  bishop  concluded  would  be  found  under  a  heap  of 
small  stones  that  lay  in  a  field  near  his  church, 
lyucian  said  he  imagined  the  .same  thing,  and  return- 
ing home,  summoned  the  inhabitants  to  meet  the  next 
morning,  in  order  to  search  under  the  mound.  As 
Lucian  w^as  going  the  following  morning  to  see  the 
place  dug  up,  he  was  met  by  Migetius,  a  monk  of 
pure  and  holy  life,  who  told  him  that  Gamaliel  had 
appeared  to  him,  and  bade  him  inform  Lucian  that 
they  labored  in  vain   in   that  place.      "We  were  laid 


THE  GHOST  OF  GAMALIEL.  289 

there,"  he  said,  "at  the  time  of  our  funeral  obsequies, 
according  to  the  ancient  custom ;  and  that  mound  was  a 
mark  of  mourning,  placed  by  our  friends.  Search 
elsewhere,  in  a  place  called  Debetalia.  In  effect,"  said 
Migetius,  continuing  the  relation  of  his  vision,  **I 
found  myself  of  a  sudden  in  the  same  field  where  I  saw 
a  neglected  tomb  in  ruins,  and  in  it  three  beds  adorned 
with  gold;  in  one  of  them  more  elevated  than  the  oth- 
ers, lay  two  men,  an  old  man  and  a  young  one,  and  one 
in  each  of  the  other  beds. ' '  Lucian  having  heard  the 
report  of  Migetius,  praised  God  for  having  another 
witness  of  his  revelation,  and  having  removed  to  no 
purpose,  the  stones  of  the  mound,  he  went  to  the  spot 
pointed  out  by  Migetius.  In  digging  up  the  earth 
here,  three  coffins  or  chests  were  found,  as  above  men- 
tioned, whereon  were  engraved  in  large  legible  char- 
acters, Cheliel,  Nasuam,  Gamaliel,  Abibas.  The  fiist 
two  are  the  Syriac  names  of  Stephen  or  crowned;  and 
Nicodemus.  or  victory.  Lucian  sent  immediately  to 
acquaint  bishop  John  of  this.  The  bishop  at  the  time 
was  attending  the  Council  of  DiospoHs,  and  taking 
with  him,  Eutonius,  bi.shopof  Sebaste,  and  Kleutherius 
bishop  of  Jericho,  came  to  the  place.  Upon  the  open- 
ing of  St.  Stephen's  coffin,  the  earth  trembled,  and  an 
odour  issued  forth  so  fragrant  that  no  one  present  had 
ever  before  experienced  anything  like  it.  Quite  a 
multitude  of  people  were  present,  among  whom  were 
many  affiicted  with  different  ailments,  of  whom 
seventy  three  were  cured  instantaneously.  Some  were 
cured  of  scrofulous  tumors  of  various  kinds;  others  of 
fevers,  epilepsy,  violent  headaches,  and  hemorrhages. 
The  relics  being  re- inclosed,  the  bishop  selected  those 
of  St.  Stephen  for  the  church  at  Jerusalem  of  which  he 


:290  THE  FIFTH  CENTURY. 

had  been  deacon;  the  rest  were  left  at  Caphargamala. 
The  proto-martyr's  body  was  reduced  to  dust,  except 
the  bones,  that  were  entire,  and  in  their  natural  posi- 
tion. The  relics  were  borne  with  singing  of  psalms 
and  hymns  to  the  church  of  Sion  at  Jerusalem.  The 
translation  took  place  on  the  26th.  of  December,  on 
which  day  the  church  has  ever  since  honored  the  mem- 
ory of  St.  Stephen.  The  history  of  the  discovery  and 
translation  were  written  by  the  priest  Lucian  himself, 
and  translated  into  Latin  by  Avitus  a  priest  and  inti- 
mate friend  of  St.  Jerome  and  may  be  found  in  the 
appendix  to  the  seventh  tome  of  the  works  of  St.  Au- 
gustine. 

In  his  last  book  of  the  work  entitled  "Of  the  City  of 
God,"  St.  Augustine  tells  us  that  he  had  received  re- 
ports of  nearly  seventy  miracles  wrought  at  Hippo  by 
the  relics  of  St.  Stephen.  Among  these  he  mentions 
two  persons  raised  from  the  dead;  one  the  son  of  a  col- 
lector named  Irenaeus;  the  other  a  daughter  of  Bessus, 
a  Syrian. 

St.  Augustine  also  tells  us  that  he  himself  was  an 
eye-witness  to  many  of  the  miracles  wrought  by  the 
relics.     Among  others,  he  relates  the  following: — 

Ten  children  of  a  respectable  family  of  Caesarea  in 
Cappadocia,  seven  sons  and  three  daughters,  having 
been  cursed  by  their  mother  on  account  of  very  bad 
disrespectful  treatment  of  her,  were  all  seized  with  a 
palsy,  a  violent  trembling  of  the  limbs,  that  became 
distorted.  In  this  state  they  wandered  about  from 
place  to  place.  Their  unhappy  disorder  attracted  the 
attention  of  all.  The  wretched  mother  grieving  at  the 
scourge  she  had  brought  upon  her  children,  committed 
suicide.     Paul,  the  sixth  child,  and  Palladia  the  seventh 


THE  RELICS  OF  ST.  STEPHEN.  291 

came  to  Hippo,  the  city  of  St.  Augustine  iu  the  year 
425.  A  little  time  before  their  coming,  the  holy  bishop 
had  received  a  portion  of  the  relics  of  St.  Stephen  over 
which  he  erected  in  his  cathedral  church  an  altar,  as 
he  himself  says,  "To  God."  On  Easter  Sunday  morn- 
ing, the  afflicted  young  man  Paul,  praying  be- 
fore the  altar  of  the  relics,  was  perfectly  cured.  The 
church  echoed  with  acclamations,  the  people  crying 
out,  "Thanks  be  to  God.  Praise  be  to  God."  Paul 
was  presented  to  St.  Augustine  who  embraced  him. 
When  sermon  time  came,  the  bishop  showed  Paul  to 
the  people  saying,  *  *  We  have  been  accustomed  to  read 
of  the  miracles,  that  God  has  worked  by  the  prayers 
of  the  blessed  martyr  St.  Stephen;  but  now  the  pres- 
ence of  this  young  man  supplies  the  place  of  a  book, 
nor  need  we  any  other  writing  than  his  countenance 
which  you  all  know."  He  adds,  that  he  would  not 
have  been  able  to  support  the  fatigue  of  the  long  ser- 
vice of  the  preceding  day — (Easter  eve) — and  night, 
fasting,  and  then  preaching,  had  it  not  been  for  the 
prayers  of  St.  Stephen. 

On  Easter  Tuesday  he  caused  Paul  and  Palladia  to 
stand  on  the  steps  of  the  pulpit,  that  they  might  be 
seen  by  all  the  people;  Paul,  without  any  palsied 
movement;  Palladia,  trembling  in  every  limb.  They 
both  then  withdrew,  and  St.  Augustine  began  to 
preach  on  the  respect  that  children  owe  their  parents; 
and  the  considerateness  due  by  parents  to  children. 
As  the  sermon  proceeded  it  was  suddenly  interrupted 
by  the  exclamations  of  the  congregation,  shouting, 
"Thanks be  to  God."  Palladia  having  gone  from  the 
pulpit  steps  to  pray  at  the  altar  of  St.  Stephen,  was 
miraculously  cured.     The  sermon — interrupted  by  the 


292  THE  FIFTH  CENTURY. 

miracle — ,  preached  by  St.  Augustine  on  the  occasion 
is  extant. 

Thus  did  it  please  Almighty  God,  to  honor  the 
martyrs  of  four  centuries  in  the  relics  of  the  Proto- 
Martyr. 

THE  NEMESIS. 

When  Rome  was  in  the  meridian  of  her  pride,  she 
beheld  herself  reflected  in  each  of  the  innumerable  cities 
that  studded  the  shores  of  her  seas,  and  lay  scattered, 
like  marble  villas  near  some  great  capital,  over  every 
province  within  the  frontiers.  From  Gades  to  Edessa, 
from  Camelodunum  and  London  to  the  cities  of  Mauri- 
tania and  the  Pyramids;  the  arts,  the  fashions  which 
she  patronized,  her  literature  and  all  the  elegancies  of 
social  existence  had  spread  their  influence;  but  because 
Imperial  Rome  had  shed  the  blood  of  the  saints,  and 
was  signally  punished,  yet  forgetting  her  punishment, 
and  again  reddening  the  empire  with  the  martyr's 
blood;  once  more  the  sword  of  Divine  justice  gleams  at 
the  beginning  of  the  fifth  century. 

'*A  multitude  of  barbarous  nations,"  says  St  Jerome 
* 'have  possessed  themselves  of  all  Gaul.  The  Quadi, 
the  Vandals,  the  Sarmatians,  the  Alans,  the  Gepidi, 
the  Heruli,  the  Saxons,  the  Burgundians,  the  Suevi, 
and  the  Huns,  have  laid  waste  the  whole  country  be- 
tween the  Alps  and  the  Pyrenees,  between  the  ocean 
and  the  Rhine." 

"The  greatest  part  of  the  Gallic  cities,"  says  Gib- 
bon, "were  besieged  and  stormed  by  the  Huns,  who 
practised,  in  the  example  of  Metz,  their  customary 
maxims  of  war.  They  involved  every  age,  sex,  and 
profession,  in  promiscuous  massacre.  The  flourishing 
city  was  delivered  to  the  flames,  and  a  solitary  chapel 


THE  NEMESIS.  293 

of  St.  Stephen  marked   the   place  where  it  formerly 
stood." 

"The  situation  of  Spain,  separated  on  all  sides  from 
the  enemies  of  Rome  by  the  sea,  by  the  mountains,  and 
by  the  intermediate  provinces,  bad  secured  the  long 
tranquility  of  that  remote  and  sequestered  country, 
and  we  may  observe,  as  a  sure  symptom  of  domestic 
happiness,  that  in  a  period  of  four  hundred  years, 
Spain  furnished  very  few  materials  to  the  history  of 
the  Roman  empire.  But,  says  Mariana,  whom  I  have 
been  quoting,  the  irruption  of  the  Suevi,  Vandals,  and 
Alans,  was  followed  by  the  most  dreadful  calamities, 
as  the  barbarians  exercised  their  indiscriminate  cruelty 
on  the  Romans  and  the  Spaniards,  and  ravaged  with 
equal  fury  the  cities  and  the  open  country.  The  pro- 
gress of  famine  reduced  the  miserable  inhabitants  to 
feed  on  the  flesh  of  their  fellow  creatures;  and  even 
the  wild  beasts,  who  multiplied  without  control  in  the 
desert  were  exasperated  by  the  taste  of  blood  and  the 
impatience  of  hunger,  boldly  to  attack  and  devour 
their  human  prey.  Pestilence  soon  appealed,  the  in- 
separable companion  of  famire;  a  large  portion  of  the 
people  was  swept  away,  and  the  groans  of  the  dying 
excited  only  the  envy  of  their  surviving  friends.** 

"The  long  and  narrow  tract  of  the  African  coast/' 
says  Gibbon,  "was  filled  with  frequent  monuments  of 
Roman  art  and  magnificence,  and  the  degrees  of  im* 
provement  might  be  accurately  measured  by  the  dis- 
tance from  Carthage  and  the  Mediterranean.  A  sim* 
pie  reflection  will  impress  every  thinking  mind  with 
the  clearest  idea  of  fertility  and  cultivation.  The 
country  was  extremely  populous;  the  inhabitants  re- 
served a  liberal  subsistence  for  their  own  use,  and  the 


294  THE  FIFTH  CENTURY. 

annual  exportation,  particularly  of  wheat,  was  so  reg- 
ular and  plentiful,  that  Africa  deserved  the  name  of 
the  common  granary  of  Rome  and  of  mankind.  On  a 
sudden  the  fruitful  provinces  from  Tangier  to  Tripoli 
were  overwhelmed  by  the  invasion  of  the  Vandals." 

"They  found  a  province  well  cultivated,"  says  Vic- 
tor Vitensis,  a  contemporary   author,  "a  country  en- 
joying plenty,  the  beauty  of  the  whole  earth.     They 
carried  their  destructive  armies  into  every  corner  of  it; 
they  depopulated  it  by  their  devastations,  exterminat- 
ing everything  with  fire  and  sword.     They  did  not 
even    spare   the   vines   and   fruit  trees,  that   those  to 
whom  caves  and  inaccessible  mountains  had  afforded  a 
retreat  might  find  no  nourishment  of  any  kind.    Their 
hostile  rage  could  not  be  satiated,  and  there  was  no 
place  exempted  from  the  effects  of  it.     They  tortured 
their   prisoners  with   the   greatest    cruelty,  that  they 
might  force   from    them  a   discovery  of   their  hidden 
treasures.     The  more  they  discovered,  the  more  they 
expected,    and    the   more    implacable    they   became. 
Neither  the  infirmities  of  age  nor  of  sex;  neither  the 
dignity  of  nobility,  nor  the  sanctity  of  the  sacerdotal 
office,  could  mitigate  their  fury;  but  the  more  illustri- 
ous  their  prisoners,  the    more   barbarously    they    in- 
sulted them.     The  public  buildings  that  resisted  the 
violence  of  the  flames,  they  levelled  with  the  ground. 
They  left  many  cities  without   an  inhabitant.     When 
they  approached  a  fortified  place,  that   their  undiscip- 
lined army  could  not  reduce,  they  gathered  together  a 
multitude  of  prisoners,  and  putting  them  to  the  sword, 
left  their  bodies  unburied,  that  the  stench  of  the  car- 
casses might  oblige  the  garrison  to  abandon  it." 

**For  twenty  years  and  more,"  writes  St.  Jerome^ 


THE  NEMESIS.  295 

**from  Constantinople  to  the  Julian  Alps,  we  behold  the 
daily  effusion  of  Roman  blood;  everywhere  g^roansand 
lamentations;  everywhere  death  appears  in  various 
shapes.     The  whole  Roman  empire  is  tumbling." 

A  touching  and  lively  picture  of  the  desolate  aspect 
of  Bologna,  Reggio,  Modena,  and  Piacenza,  with  the 
rich  interjacent  provinces,  is  given  by  St.  Ambrose 
even  before  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  century. 

"Above  four  years  elapsed  from  the  successful  inva- 
sion of  Italy  by  the  arms  of  Alaric,  to  the  voluntary 
retreat  of  the  Goths,  under  the  conduct  of  his  succes- 
sor Adolphus;  and  during  the  whole  time,  they  reigned 
without  control  over  a  country,  which,  in  the  opinion 
of  the  ancients,  had  united  all  the  various  excellencies 
of  nature  and  art.  The  fruits  of  a  long  peace  perished 
under  the  rude  grasp  of  the  barbarians;  and  they  them- 
selves were  incapable  of  tasting  the  more  elegant  re- 
finements of  luxury  that  had  been  prepared  for  the  use 
of  the  soft  and  polished  Italians.  Each  soldier,  how- 
ever, claimed  an  ample  portion  of  the  substantial^ 
plenty,  the  corn  and  cattle,  oil  and  wine,  that  was 
daily  collected  and  consumed  in  the  Gothic  camp,  and 
the  principal  warriors  defiled  the  villas  and  gardens, 
once  inhabited  by  Lucullus  and  Cicero,  along  the 
beauteous  coasts  of  Campania.  Their  trembling  cap- 
tives, the  sons  and  daughters  of  Roman  Senators,  pre- 
sented in  goblets  of  gold  and  gems,  large  draughts  of 
Falernian  wine  to  the  haughty  victors,  who  stretched 
their  huge  limbs  under  the  shade  of  plane  trees,  artifi- 
cially disposed  to  exclude  the  scorching  rays  and  to 
admit  the  genial  warmth  of  the  sun.  These  delights 
of  the  Goths  were  enhanced  by  the  memory  of  past 
hardships:  the  comparison  of  their  native  soil,  the 


296  THE  FIFTH  CENTURY. 

bleak  and  barren  hills  of  Scy  thia,  and  the  frozen  banks 
of  the  Elbe  and  Danube  added  new  charms  to  the 
felicity  of  the  Italian  climate. ' '  Thus  did  pagan  Rome 
pay  for  its  cruel  treatment  of  the  Christians. 

WHII.K  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE  TOTTERS,  THE  CHURCH 
CONVERTS   IRELAND. 

As  the  fifth  century  progressed,  and  while  the  re- 
mainder of  Europe — as  we  have  seen  in  the  preceding 
chapter — was  in  a  state  of  bloodshed,  overrun  by  bar- 
barians, Ireland,  the  land  of  the  Druid,  was  converted 
to  Christianity,  and  converted  without  the  shedding  of 
a  single  drop  of  blood. 

Because  of  this  remarkable  circumstance,  and  be- 
cause of  the  interest  that  many  readers  are  likely  to 
take  in  the  relation,  a  somewhat  detailed  though  brief 
account  will  be  given  of  its  history. 

Ireland,  the  "Emerald  Isle,"  the  "Green  Isle,"  the 
"Island  of  the  Holy  and  the  Learned,"  the  "Gem  of 
the  Sea,"  arises  from  the  bosom  of  the  Atlantic,  and  is 
situated  at  the  side  of  Great  Britain  looking  towards 
America,  "The  land  of  the  Brave  and  the  Free."  Her 
crystal  waters,  her  green  clad  mountains,  her  fairy 
lakes,  her  dells  and  glens  and  vales,  her  rocky  coast 
laved  by  the  wild  wave.'i,  her  romantic  round  towers, 
her  noble  monastic  and  ecclesiastical  ruins,  all  claim 
the  just  pride  of  the  Irishman.  Though  not  so  large 
as  Kentucky,  her  soil  is  sufficiently  fertile  to  support  a 
population  of  fifteen  millions.  Her  history  has  been 
eventful. 

ANCIENT  IRELAND. 

It  is  to  be  premised  that  the  statements  about  to  be 
made  on  this  part  of  very  early  Irish  history,  although 
not  clothed  with  certainty,  yet  were  deemed  probable 


ANCIENT  IRELAND.  297 

by  such  men  as  the  Rev.  James  Todd,  D.  D.  of  Dublin 
University;  by  George  Petrie,  L.  L.  D.  the  distin- 
guished arcbaeologist  and  Celtic  scholar;  Mr.  T.  W. 
Ivongfield  of  the  Science  and  Art  Museum,  Dublin;  by 
Mr.  Wakeman  an  Irish  antiquarian,  and  by  accredited 
Irish  historians.  The  probability  of  historic  truth  in 
this  matter  arises  from  the  fact  that  the  bardic  ac- 
counts are  confirmed  by  monumental  record,  and  by 
the  names  of  rivers  and  localities  whose  origin  cannot 
be  traced  to  the  early  colonists,  so  distant  is  that 
origin. 

According  to  the  ancient  chronicles  of  Ireland,  the 
first  inhabitants  were  a  colony  from  Greece  wbooe 
leader  was  Parthalon.  about  four  thousand  years  ago. 
It  is  said  that  he  landed  at  Kenmare  River,  accomfM- 
nied  by  his  three  sons  and  their  families  and  about  a 
thousand  followers.  Parthalon  died  in  the  plain  in 
which  Dublin  now  stands,  about  thirty  >ears  after  his 
landing,  and  in  the  space  of  about  three  hundred  years, 
nearly  the  whole  country  perished  by  pe.«^tilence.  The 
place  in  which  this  catastrophe  happened  was  called 
Sean-Mhagh-Ealta-Hdair,  or  the  Old  Plain  of  the  flecks 
of  Adair.  The  memory  of  this  event  is  preserved  in 
the  name  of  the  village  of  Tallaght  (Tamleacht).  which 
signifies  "the  plague  monument,"  from  Tamh.  a 
plague;  and  Leacht,  a  monument.  In  Irish  books  the 
place  is  called  Tamleacht  Muintir  Parthaloin.  or  the 
plague  monument  of  Parthalon's  people.  The  plague 
is  said  to  have  been  caused  by  the  decomposed  bodkt 
of  dead  soldiers  slain  in  the  battle  field. 

After  a  (juarter  of  a  century  a  second  colony  came 
from  the  Southeastern  part  of  Kurope,  the  Kuxine 
Sea.    led    by    Nemedius    or  Neimhidh    (pronounced 


298  A  NCI  EN  T  IRELAND. 

Nevy)  and  occupied  the  country  sotre  few  centuries. 
The  annals' record  the  names  of  the  raths  or  forts  that 
were  constructed  and  of  the  plains  cleared  of  wood 
during  this  period,  and  they  also  mention  the  eruption 
of  four  lakes  at  this  time;  Lakes  Derryvarragh  and 
Ennell  in  Westmeath,  with  two  others  not  identified. 
Again  we  read  of  pestilence  and  of  the  ravages  of  an 
invasion  of  pirates  called  Fomarians,  very  probably 
Northmen  known  as  Scandinavians.  The  Giant's 
Causeway  takes  its  name  from  them — Cloghan-na- 
Fomharaigh,  "The  Stepping  Stones  of  the  Fomarians." 
The  principal  battle  with  them  was  fought  about  a 
thousand  years  before  the  Christian  era.  The 
strongest  fortress  of  the  Fomorians  at  Tory  Island,  on 
the  Donegal  coast,  was  stormed  by  the  Nemedians, 
but  the  pirates  being  re-enforced,  the  battle  was 
renewed  on  the  Strand,  the  pirates  remaining  victors. 
A  comparatively  small  number  of  the  Nemedians 
escaped  and  took  refuge,  some  in  Albion  (Britain) 
others  in  Greece.  Those  who  returned  to  Greece 
were  placed  in  bondage  and  received  the  name  of 
Firbolgs. 

Again  some  centuries,  and  the  Firbolgs  having 
multiplied  considerably  in  Greece,  escaped  from  bond- 
age by  seizing  the  ships  of  their  masters  and  sailing 
once  more  to  Ireland.  The  country  was  divided 
between  their  five  leaders,  the  sons  of  Deala,  each  of 
whom  ruled  in  turn  over  the  entire  island.  The  names 
of  the  brothers  w^ere  Slainghe,  Rury,  Gann,  Geanann 
and  Seangann.  The  river  Slaney,  in  Wexford, 
derives  its  name  from  the  first. 

After  half  a  century  another  formidable  host  of  in- 
vaders  appeared    in    the    Tuathade    Danaans.     The 


ANCIENT  IRELAND.  29» 

leader  was  Nuad  of  the  Silver  Hand,  and  the  first  act 
on  landing  was  to  burn  their  own  fleet,  in  order  to 
render  retreat  impossible.  A  battle  was  fought  near 
the  shore  of  Lough  Corrib,  in  which  the  Firbolgs  were 
overthrown  with  great  slaughter.  Eochy  the  king 
fled,  but  was  overtaken  and  slain  at  a  place  in  the 
present  county  of  Sligo,  where  the  cairn  or  stone  heap, 
raised  over  his  grave,  is  still  to  be  seen  on  the  sea- 
shore. 

The  victorious  Nuad   lost   his  hand   in  this  battle. 

and  a  silver  hand  was  made  for  him  by  Credne  Ccrd. 

the    artificer,    and    fitted   on   him   by   the   physician 

Diencecht,  hence  the  surname  that  the  king  received. 

Lugh  Lamhfhada  succeeded  Nuad,  and  instituted   the 

fair  of  Tailltean  now  Teltown  near  the  Blackwater  in 

Meath,  which  fair  continued  to  be  held  until  the  12th. 

•century  on  the  ist.  of  August,  a  day  still  called  10 

Irish,   Lugh  Nasadh  or  Lugh's  fair,  of  which  vivid 

traditions  regarding  ancient  games  remain.       By  the 

Tuatha  de  Danaans,  the  Lia  Fail  or  Stone  of   Destiny 

on  which  the  Irish  kings  were  crowned  in   subsequent 

ages  was  brought  to  Ireland.     It  was  taken  to  Scotland 

in  the  Sixth  century,  preserved  afterwards  for  age^  in 

the  monastery  of  vScone.  and  taken  to  England  in  1300 

by  Kdward  I.       It  now  stands  in  Westminster  Abbey. 

Before  treating  of  the   Milesians   we   must    premise 

somewhat;  first:  that  although  the  date  of  the  landing 

of  the  Milesians  is  differenily  stated  by  different  hia- 

torians,  yet  they  agree  as  to  the  numl>ei  and  names  of 

the  kings,  and  the  facts  related  of  the  different  rciRnn; 

secondly,  that  it  was  quite  an  easy  matter  for  either 

Greek,  or  Northman,  or  Spaniard  to  make  his  way   lo 

Ireland,  as  he  had  only  to  steer  his  galleys  close  lo  the 


300  ANCIENT  IRELAND. 

coast  of  Continental  Europe;  then  by  rounding  Lizard 
Point  at  Cornwall  or  Duncansby  Head  at  Caithness, 
he  could  easily  sail  in  one  day  to  Innis  Ealga  (Noble 
Isle)  from  either  of  the  points  where  Holyhead  or  Port 
Patrick  now  stands.  The  latest  historians  place  the 
Milesian  invasion  about  fourteen  hundred  years  before 
the  Christian  era.  It  may  be  said  once  for  all  that 
any  differences  found  in  the  statements  of  different 
historians  is  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  history,  of 
ancient  and  medieval  Ireland  is  scattered  through 
thirty  thousand  pages  of  Celtic  manuscript,  much  of 
which  is  difficult  to  decipher. 

It  is  said  that  Ith  (pronounced  Eeh),  the  uncle  of 
Milesius,  a  venturesome  explorer,  had  in  his  cruising 
Northward  from  Spain,  sighted  the  distant  island,  and 
landing  at  Donegal  to  explore  it,  was  attacked  by  the 
inhabitants,  who  supposed  him  to  be  a  spy,  and  mor- 
tally wounded  ere  he  could  regain  his  ship  He  died 
at  sea  on  his  way  home.  His  body  was  reverently 
preserved  and  brought  back  to  Spain  by  his  son  Lu- 
gaid  (Lui),  who  had  accompanied  him.  Eui  sum- 
moned the  Milesian  host  to  return  with  him  to  avenge 
the  death  of  his  father.  Milesius,  himself,  had  died 
before  the  return  of  Eui,  biit  his  six  sons  quickly  re- 
sponded, and  with  their  widowed  mother,  Queen 
Scota,  soon  sailed  in  thirty  galleys  for  the  Noble  Isle. 
Heber  the  Fair,  Amergin,  Heber  the  Brown,  Colpa, 
Ir,  and  Heremon,  were  jubilant  in  the  hope  of  con- 
quest. 

At  that  time  the  country  was  governed  by  three 
brothers,  princes  of  the  Tuatha  de  Danaan  race. 
Their  three  wives  were  Erie,  Banva,  and  Fiola,  by  any 
of  which  names  the  island  was  known,  and  all  three 


ANCIENT  IRELAND.  301 

are  assigned  to  it  in  the  national  poems.  The  invaders 
landed  in  detachments,  some  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Boyne,  others  on  the  coast  of  Kerry.  A  short,  but 
fiercely  contested  campaign  decided  the  fate  of  the 
kingdom.  In  the  first  battle,  fought  in  a  glen  a  few 
miles  south  of  Tralee,  the  Milesians  were  victorious. 
The  queen-mother,  Scota,  fell  amid  the  slain,  and  was 
buried  beneath  a  royal  cairn  in  Glen  Scohene,  close 
by.  In  a  comparatively  brief  period  the  Milesian 
princes  subdued  the  whole  country,  and  then  entered 
into  a  treaty  with  the  Tuatha  de  Danaans.  Accord- 
ing to  the  Constitution  then  drawn  up,  and  under 
which  Ireland  was  governed  for  more  than  a  thousand 
years,  the  people  consisted  of  two  classes,  the  Free 
Clans  and  the  Unfree  Clans.  The  former,  the  descend- 
ants of  the  Milesian  soldiers;  the  lattier,  of  the  sub- 
jected people.  The  Unfree  Clans  may  be  said  to  have 
governed  themselves  in  great  part,  but  could  not  vote 
in  the  election  of  a  sovereign,  nor  exercise  the  full 
rights  of  citizenship.  Heremon  became  sole  ruler  of 
the  Island,  the  divisions  being  Mononta,  Lagentt. 
Ulidia,  Connacia. 

From  the  Milesian  conquest  to  the  time  of  St.  Pat- 
rick, ii8  sovereigns  are  named  who  ruled  over  the 
whole  islands  independently  of  the  petty  kings  of  the 
provinces.  The  history  of  their  reigns  records  the 
enacting  of  laws,  the  erection  of  palaces,  the  clearing 
of  forests,  the  scenes  of  the  battlefield,  also  the  appear- 
ance  of  some  new  rivers,  and  remarkable  natural  phe- 
nomena, intermingled  with  fabulous  legend.  Of 
course,  in  this  chapter,  only  a  mere  outline  can  be 
given  of  the  principal  reigns. 

Among  the  early  Milesian  kings  a  prominent  plaee 


302  A  NCI  EN  T  IREL  AND. 

is  assigned  to  Tiernmas,  who  was  the  first  to  institute 
in  Ireland  the  public  worship  of  idols.  The  chief  idol, 
Crom  Cruach,  the  sun  god,  stood  in  Magh  Slecht 
(Plain  of  Adoration)  in  Brefry  (Cavan).  This  idol 
was  covered  with  gold,  and  was  surrounded  with 
smaller  idols,  all  of  which  were  afterwards  destroyed 
by  St.  Patrick.  During  the  reign  of  Tiernmas,  gold 
was  first  smelted  in  Ireland,  in  the  district  of  Foharta, 
east  of  the  river  Liffey,  also,  goblets  and  brooches  were 
first  plated  in  gold.  He  ordained  that  rank  should  be 
distinguished  by  the  number  of  colors  in  the  dress:  the 
slave,  one  color;  the  peasant,  two;  the  soldier,  three; 
the  keeper  of  a  house  of  hospitality,  four;  chieftain, 
five;  man  of  learning,  six;  king  or  queen,  seven.  In 
the  reign  of  Enna  Airgeach,  perhaps  a  thousand  years 
B.  C,  silver  shields  were  made  at  Airget  Ross  (Silver 
Wood),  near  Kilkenny. 

Ollamh  F'odhla  (OUav  Fola)  instituted  one  of  the 
first  Parliaments  on  record,  held  at  the  centrally  situ- 
ated Tara.  All  the  chieftains,  bards,  historians  and 
military  leaders  were  regularly  summoned,  and  re- 
quired to  attend  under  penalty  of  being  declared  the 
king's  enemies.  The  bards  gave  long  and  glowing 
accounts  of  the  regal  magnificence  displayed.  Tables 
were  arranged  along  the  centre,  and  on  the  walls  at 
each  side,  the  banners  of  the  different  septs,  so  that 
each  chief  on  entering  sat  opposite  his  own.  Orders 
were  issued  by  sound  of  trumpet.  It  would  appear 
that  the  principal  duty  was  the  inspection  and  audit- 
ing of  the  national  records,  the  writers  of  which  were 
obliged  to  accuracy  under  grave  penalty.  Some  mod- 
ern writers  object  that  the  art  of  writing  could  not 
have  been  known  at  this  early  period  in  Ireland;  anti- 


ANCIENT  IRELAND,  aOS 

quarians  know  the  contrary.  At  the  close  of  this 
chapter  the  Ogham  characters  will  be  treated  of.  The 
Parliament  assembled  every  third  year  at  Tara,  or  less 
frequently,  according  to  exigency.  Ollav  Fola  ap- 
pointed also  a  chieftain  over  every  cantred  or  hundred, 
and  a  secondary  officer  over  every  townland,  all  subject 
to  the  Ard  Righ  or  supreme  monarch.  After  a  bril- 
liant reign  he  died  and  was  buried  at  Tara. 

King  Monemon  appointed  golden  chains  as  orna- 
ments for  the  neck  of  nobles,  and  golden  finger  rings. 
Some  two  hundred  years  after,  the  town  of  Kells  was 
founded  by  Fiacha  Finailches;  afterwards,  four  horse 
chariots  by  Roiachty;  later,  pay  was  given  to  soldiers 
by  Sidna  Inarry;  si  ill  later,  silver  coin  was  stamped  at 
the  works  of  Airget  Ross. 

The  reign  of  Cimbeath  (Kinibay)  brings  us  to  the 
certain  period  of  Irish  Chronology,  a  few  centuries  B. 
C.  During  his  reign  the  royal  palace  of  Ulster  named 
Emania,  was  founded.  He  married  queen  Machawho 
built  it.  It  was  known  as  the  palace  of  the  Red 
Branch  Knights,  the  home  of  the  kings  of  Ulster  for 
more  than  eight  centuries. 

Afterwards  came  Hugony  the  Great,  whose  power 
extended  all  over  the  west  of  Kurope  as  far  as  Mtiir- 
Torrean  (Mediterranean.)  He  divided  ihc  kingdom 
into  twenty-five  parts,  which  he  a.ssigned  to  members 
of  his  own  family.  During  this  reign  a  prince  named 
Lowry  Longseach  (Lowry  of  the  ships)  was  exiled, 
lived  some  time  in  Gaul,  then  returned  with  Iwothoo- 
sand  foreigners,  landed  on  the  coast  of  Wexford, 
marched  rapidly  to  the  royal  residence  at  Dinrye  on 
the  banks  of  the  Barrow  which  he  attacked  at  night; 
slew  the  king,  his  uncle,  and  thirty  nobles:  and  tben 


304  ANCIENT  IRELAND. 

set  fire  to  the  palace  that  was  burned  to  the  ground. 
He  then  seized  the  crown  and  reigned  nineteen  years. 

Then  we  read  of  Achy  who  again  divided  the  island 
into  five  parts;  and  of  Maeve,  queen  of  Connaught, 
who  at  the  head  of  an  army  dashed  into  Ulster  with 
her  war  chariots,  and  moving  southward  swept  the 
lands  at  both  sides  of  the  Shannon. 

The  Milesians  and  the  early  settlers  never  harmon- 
ized. The  Milesian  rule  became  so  oppressive  that  in 
the  reign  succeeding  Creivan  the  2d.,  the  ninety  ninth 
Milesian  monarch,  a  wide-spread  conspiracy  was 
organized  to  abolish  Milesian  government.  After 
three  years  secret  preparation,  the  royal  and  noble 
Milesian  families  were  invited  to  a  magnificent  enter- 
tainment, to  enjoy  games,  exhibitions,  festivities,  and 
banqueting  to  be  held  on  the  plain  of  Knock  Ma  in  the 
county  of  Galway.  The  great  spectacle  had  lasted 
nine  days  when  suddenly  the  Milesians  were  attacked 
by  the  Aitheach-Tuatha,  (Atacotti)  as  the  Latin 
writers  call  them,  and  massacred  to  a  man.  Of  the 
royal  line,  there  escaped  however,  three  princes,  chil- 
dren yet  unborn,  whose  mothers,  wives  of  Milesian 
princes,  were  daughters  respectively  of  the  kings  of 
Scotland,  Saxony,  and  Brittany,  who  escaped  to 
Albion,  where  the  three  young  princes  were  born  and 
educated.  This  occurred  about  the  beginning  of  the 
Christian  era. 

The  Attacotti  after  the  massacre  of  the  Milesians  of 
the  royal  and  noble  families,  elected  as  their  king, 
Carbry,  who  reigned  during  five  years,  during  which 
time  people  suffered  much  from  famine,  and  the  dis- 
order naturally  arising  as  the  sequence  of  successful 
rebellion.      At   the   death  of  Carbry,  the  crown  was 


ANCIENT  IRELAND,  305 

refused  by  his  son,  the  wise  and  prudent  Moran,  who 
advised  that  the  rightful  heirs  be  invited  back  from 
England  to  assume  the  throne  of  their  ancestors.  The 
young  princes  were  accordingly  invited  home,  and  one 
of  them  Faradach  Finnfeachtnach  (Righteous)  was 
elected  king.  Moran,  surnamed  the  Just,  administered 
the  law  during  his  reign,  in  which  peace  and  order 
were  again  restored.  It  was  Moran  who  introduced 
the  famous  chain  of  office  to  be  worn  around  the  neck 
by  one  exercising  the  office  of  judge.  As  time  rolled 
on,  the  Attacotti  were  subjected  to  more  grievous  op- 
pression than  ever,  and  accordingly  a  fresh  rebellion 
broke  forth.  This  time  the  provincial  kings  were  in- 
duced to  join  in  the  outbreak  that  resulted  in  a  des- 
perate battle  at  Maghbolg  on  the  boundaries  of  the 
present  counties  of  Cavan  and  Meath,  in  which  the 
monarch  Fiacha  Finfolay  was  killed.  Elim,  king  of 
Ulster,  who  had  joined  the  insurgents  was  chosen 
monarch,  and  had  a  troubled  reign  of  twenty  years. 
After  this  reign,  a  second  of  the  Milesian  princes  bom 
in  exile,  known  as  Tuathal  Teachlar  (legitimate)  at 
the  invitation  of  a  powerful  party  returned  and  slew 
Elim  in  battle  at  Aichill,  at  the  hill  of  Skreen  in 
Meath.  Tuathal  reigned  thirty  years,  and  fearing  re- 
volt, very  unwisely  adopted  a  policy  of  oppression  and 
extermination.  He  endeavored  al^o  to  establish  his 
family  permanently  on  the  throne,  by  exacting  an  oath 
from  the  people  that  his  posterity  should  ever  be  reot>K- 
nized  as  the  lawful  sovereigns.  The  oath  began  with 
the  words,  '* By  the  sun,  moon,  and  elements.'*  He 
cut  off  from  each  of  the  other  four  provinces  a  portion 
of  territory  of  which  he  formed  the  separate  province 
of  Meath;  as  the  especial  possession  of  the  Ard-Righ. 


306  ANCIENT  IRELAND. 

In   his  day  the  parliament  at  Tara  was  convoked   with 
great  state. 

The  rei^n  of  Conn  of  the  Hundred  Battles  is  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  in  ancient  Irish  history,  because 
of  his  military  character.  His  kingly  life  appears  to 
have  been  spent  on  the  battle-field. 

In    the   whole  history   of  pre-Christian    Erin,    the 
reign  of  Cormac  Ulfadha,  A.  D.  227,  marks  the  bright- 
est epoch.     This  king  devoted  himself  especially  to  the 
cause  of  education.     He  established  a  military  college, 
a  law  college,  and  a  college   for  the  special   study   of 
history.     He  collected  and    remodelled  the  laws,    and 
published  the  code  that  remained  in  force   throughout 
the  land  until  the  English   invasion,  and  outside  the 
English  Pale  for  centuries   after.      He  assembled  the 
bards  and  chroniclers  at    Tara,   and  directed  them   to 
collect  the  annals  of  Ireland,    and  to  continue  the  re- 
cords of  the  country  from  year  to  year.     These  annals 
were  known  as  the  Psalter  of  Tara  and  contained  also 
a  description  of  the  boundaries  of   provinces,   cantreds 
and  smaller  divisions  of  land  throughout  the   country; 
unfortunately  this  important  record  has  been  lost.     The 
magnificence  of  Cormac' s  palace  at  Tara  was  commen- 
surate with  his  dignity  and  authority.     Next  in  state- 
liness  to  the  palace  was  the  House  of  Parliament  known 
as  the  Teach  Miodhchuarta  capable  of  accomodating  a 
thousand   persons.     It   formed   an    oblong   hall  with 
fourteen  massive   doors,  seven   on   the   east  side   and 
seven  on  the  west.     According  to  Dr.  Petrie's  measure- 
ments it  was  760  feet  long  and   90  feet   wide.      There 
was  a  double  row  of  benches  on  each  side,  running  the 
entire  length  of  the  hall;  in  the  centre,    a   number  of 
fireplaces  in  a  line  between  the  benches,  and  over  the 


ANCIENT  IRELAND,  807 

fireplaces  a  row  of  spits,  at  which  a  large  number  of 
joints  could   be  roasted.     There  is   in  the   **Book   of 
Leinster,"  a  ground  plan  of  the  building.     The  king 
took  his  place  at  the  south  end  of  the  hall,   the   nobles 
and  officers  were  ranged  along  the   sides  according  to 
their  dignity,  the  servants  and  attendants  at  the  north 
end.     At  night,  they  slept  on  couches,  eastern  fashion. 
The  appearance  of  King  Cormac  is  thus  described  in 
the  "Book  of  Bally  mote,"  copied  from  the  Book   of 
the  Ua  Chongabhail.     "Beautiful  was  the  appearance 
of  Cormac  in  that  assembly.     Flowing   and   slightly 
curling  was  his  auburn  hair.    A  red  buckler  with  stars 
and  animals  of  gold,  and    fastenings   of   silver,  upon 
him.       A   crimson   cloak,    in   wide   descending   folds 
around  him,  fastened  at  his  neck  with  precious  stones. 
Shoes,  with  golden   buckles.     A   spear   in    his   right 
hand.     And  he  was  himself,  symmetrical  and  beauti- 
ful  of   form,  without   blemish   or   reproach."      Two 
golden  neck  torques  of  the  kind  descril>ed  can  be  seen 
to-day  in  the  Royal  Irish  Academy  at  Dublin.     Some 
works  written  by  this  king  are  still  extant.     The  first 
of  these  is  a  treatise  still  in  manuscript  entitled  Teaguse 
na  Riogh  or  Duties  of  Princes.     It  is  in  form  of  a  dia- 
logue, between  the  king  and  his  son.     "This  book 
contains  as  goodly  precepts  and  moral  documents  as 
Cato  or  Aristotle  did  ever  write,"  says  the  Irish  histo- 
rian McGeoghegan.     King  Cormac  has  provetl   him- 
.self  quite  a  jurist  in  the  Book  of  Aicill  written  by  him 
and  published  in  the  third  volume  of  the  Brehon  pub- 
lications.    It  may  be  remarked  here  that  the  British 
Government  appointed   a  commi.ssion  known   as  ihe 
Brehon  Law  Commission  aided  by  such   men  as  Rev. 
Dr.  Graves  and  Rev.  Dr.  Todd,  distinguished  in  Dtib- 


308  ANCIENT  IRELAND. 

lin  University,  and  the  Celtic  scholars,  Eugene  O' Curry 
and  Dr.  O' Donovan.  This  Book  of  Aicill  proves  in- 
controvertibly  that  in  the  third  century  of  the  Chris- 
tian era,  there  was  considerable  literary  culture  in 
Ireland.  The  works  of  Cormac  are  still  extant  in  the 
most  archaic  forms  of  the  Celtic  language.  The  king's 
daughters  also,  Ailbhe  and  Meadhbh  wrote  some 
poems  that  appear  in  the  Book  of  lyeijjster.  Cormac 
died  A.  D.  266. 

Niall  surnamed  Naoi  Ghillach  (nine  hostages)  as- 
cended the  throne  A.  D.  379.  He  devoted  his  energies 
to  hostile  expeditions  against  Britain  and  Gaul.  It  is 
said  that  the  incursions  of  the  Irish  at  that  time  were 
the  scourge  of  Western  Europe,  and  that  England  and 
France  feared  the  approach  of  the  Irish  pirate  vessels 
as  much  as  they  did  those  of  the  Northmen  They 
plundered  and  laid  waste  countries  that  Imperial 
Rome,  in  the  day  of  her  decay,  could  not  protect.  The 
Britons  were  unable  to  make  any  stand  against  them, 
the  Roman  walls  ceased  to  be  a  barrier,  and  the  seas 
from  North  to  South  swarmed  with  the  fleets  of  the 
Irish  invaders.  The  Eatin  poet,  Claudian,  refers  to 
the  fact  of  troops  being  sent  by  Stilicho,  the  general  of 
Theodosius  the  Great,  to  repel  the  Irish  hosts  led  on 
by  the  brave  King  Niall.  Numerous  prisoners  and 
hostages  were  brought  from  Scotland,  Britain  and 
Gaul,  and  it  was  during  the  last  incursion  of  Niall  of 
the  coast  of  Armoric  Gaul,  that  Patrick,  son  of  Cal- 
phurnius,  a  Roman  decurio,  with  his  sisters  Darerca 
and  Lupila,  were  carried  among  other  captives  to  Ire- 
land towards  the  close  of  the  fourth  century. 

The  laws  of  the  ancient  Irish  formed  a  vast  body  of 
jurisprudence  of  which  only  recent  researches  have  en- 


ANCIENT  IRELAND,  809 

abled  the  world  to  appreciate  its  merits.     Several  col- 
lections and  revisions  of  these  laws  were  made  by  suc- 
cessive kings  from  the  decisions  of  eminent  judges, 
and  these  are  now  known  as  the  Brehon  laws.     The 
Cain  Adamnain,  the   law  against   the  appearance  of 
women  in  battle;  the  Cain  Lanamnais,  the  law  of  hus- 
band and  wife;  the  Cain  Altroma,  the  law  of  fosterage; 
the  Urradus,  the  law  of  territory:  the  Cain  Cairde,  the 
law  regulating  the  relations  between  two  clans;  the 
Cain  Phadraig,  the  law  against  kiiling  oxen  used  in 
ploughing;  and  the  Cain  Daire,  the  law  against  killing 
milch  cows.     One  of  the  most  peculiar  of  the  ancient 
native  laws  of  Ireland  was  that  of  Tanaistecht,  (suc- 
cession) O' Curry  writes,   * 'There   was   no   invariable 
rule  of  succession  to  the  throne  in  the  Milesian  times, 
but  according  to  the  general  tenor  of  the  ancient  ac- 
counts, the  eldest  son   succeeded   the   father   to  the 
exclusion  of  all  collateral  claimants  of  the  same  line, 
as  well  as  his  brothers,  unless  it  happened  that  he  was 
disqualified  by  some  personal  deformity  or  blemish,  or 
by  imbecility  or  crime;  or  unless  as  happened  in  after 
ages,  by  parental  testament,  or  mutual  compact,  the 
succession  was  made  alternate  in  two  or  more  families. 
The  eldest  son  being  thus  recognized  as  the  presump- 
tive heir  and  successor  to  the  dignity  was  denominated 
Tanaiste  (successor)  but  minor  or  second,  whilst  all 
the  other  sons  or  persons  eligible  in  case  of  his  failure 
were    simply   called    Righdamhua,    (king   material). 
When,  however,  the  succession  was  alternate  between 
two  families,  then  upon  the  death  of  the  king  or  chief, 
he  was  not  succeeded  by  his  own  son  or  brother,  but 
by  the  senior  male  member  of  the  other  line,  subject 
to  the  disqualification  already  mentioned.     The  Tan- 


310  ANCIENT  IRELAND. 

aiste,  whosoever  he  might  be,  had  a  separate  main- 
tainence  and  establishment,  as  well  as  distinct  privi- 
leges and  liabilities.  He  was  inferior  to  the  king  or 
chief,  but  above  all  the  other  dignitaries  of  the  state, 
as  laid  down  in  the  ancient  'Institution  of  Erin,'  com- 
monly called  the  Brehon  laws." 

According  to  the  law  of  territory,    every    tribe   and 
every  family  had  a   legal   right    to  its   proportionate 
share  of  land,  but  the  tenure  of  land,  even  of  a   whole 
tribe,  was  frequently  disturbed  by  war,  and  whenever 
a  tribe  was  driven  or  emigrated  into  a   district,  where 
it  had  no  hereditary  claim,  if  it   obtained  land,  it   was 
on  the  payment  of  rent  to  the  king  of  the   district; 
these  rents  being   in  some  instances  so  heavy,  as  to 
compel  the  strangers  to  seek  a  home   elsewhere.      By 
the  law  of  eric  or  mulct,  crime,  including  even  murder, 
was  punished  by  fine,  but  in  the  case  of   murder,  the 
law  was  only  conditional,  as  the  friends  of  the  deceased 
could  insist  on  capital  punishment.     According  to  the 
law  of  fosterage,  the  children   of   one  royal   or  noble 
family  were  frequently  nursed   and  educated  by   the 
members  of  another,  and  this  system  of  fostering  is 
said  to  have  produced  ties  of  affection  betweed   differ- 
ent clans  and  families  almost  as  strong  and    sacred   as 
those  of  blood.     The  offices  of  druid,  brehon,  bard  and 
physician  were  hereditary,  yet  not  so  absolute  as  that 
others  might  not  be  permitted  to  aspire  to   them.       It 
may  not  be  out  of  place  here  to  remark  that    fosterage 
and  gossipred,  as  well  as  intermarriage  with  the  native 
Irish,  were  declared  to  be  treason  by  the  Statute  of 
Kilkenny,  40th.  Ed.  iii,  A.  D.  1367. 

Under    the   term    Bards   we   include  the   Fileadh, 
(poets)    and   the    Fer-comge   (chroniclers).     In   pre 


ANCIENT  IRELAND.  311 

Christian  Erin,  and  even  long  after  the  introduction 
of  Christianity,  the  chronicler  taught  the  history  and 
genealogy  of  his  clan  in  verse,  the  accuracy  of  which 
was  tested  at  the  triennial  parliament  of  Tara.  The 
chronicler  especially  commemorated  voyages,  wars, 
battles,  sensational  occurrences.  The  Ollcamn  poet 
or  Doctor  of  Poetry,  was  obliged  to  spend  at  least 
twelve  years  in  careful  preparation  for  his  final  degree, 
and  to  have  prepared  for  public  recitation,  seven  times 
fifty  stories  of  useful,  recreative,  polished  character. 
Moreover,  he  should  be  perfect  master  of  the  seven 
kinds  of  verse,  and  the  different  forms  of  metre.  lo 
the  Book  of  Ballymote,  there  is  a  long  list  of  the  cele- 
brated poets  and  historians  of  ancient  Ireland.  One  of 
the  most  learned  of  these  was  Oilioll  Olum  (the  sage) 
who  flourished  from  A.  D.  183  to  234.  The  Celtic 
scholar  O'Curry,  who  has  been  already  quoted,  tells  as 
that  three  poems  of  the  Sage  are  still  preserved  in  the 
Book  of  Leinster.  The  following  Rosg  Cata  (Martial 
Ode)  is  taken  from  the  second  volume  of  '*Thc  Trans- 
actions of  the  Royal  Irish  Academy.'*  It  was  song 
after  the  battle  of  Cnuca,  by  Feargus.  son  of  Finn, 
and  addressed  to  Gall,  the  son  of  Norma,  A.   D.  150. 

"Cole,  vigorous  and  warlike; 
Chief  of  heroes; 
Generous  and  brave  of  hand; 
The  choice  of  chivalry. 
Like  the  bound  of  full-fed  fl^me; 
A  blazing  that  cannot  be  quenchcil. 

A  hero  in  many  encounters: 

The  sway  of  the  royal  knights 

A  lion  rapid  to  the  attack,  disabling  the  foe. 


312  ANCIENT  IRELAND. 

Bulwark  to  the  brave  under  blows; 
Valiant  hero  in  constant  after-battles, 
Who  never  yielded  in  a  battle  of  the  brave. 

Generous  to  poets; 
Rest  to  knights; 
Tax  on  nations; 
Ruin  to  invaders; 
Prince  of  true  tutelage; 
Subduer  of  every  country; 
King  to  the  King  of  laws; 
A  man  of  firm  judgments. 

As  the  Druids  of  Erin  according  to  received  history, 
gave  the  greatest  trouble  to  St.  Patrick  in  the  conver- 
sion of  the  country,  it  is  necessary  to  paint  a  truthful 
picture  of  them,  in  order  to  estimate  justly]  the  diffi- 
culties that  lay  in  the  way  of  Ireland's  great  apostle. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era,  and  for  cen- 
turies afterwards,  there  were  Druids  among  all  the 
Celtic  tribes  of  France,  Britain  and  Ireland.  In  the 
time  of  Caesar  they  were  very  famous  both  as  priests 
and  scholars.  The  character  and  functions  of  the 
Druids  of  Gaul  are  described  by  Caesar  in  the  6th. 
book  of  his  Commentaries.  *'They  attend  to  divine 
worship,  offer  public  and  private  sacrifices  and  explain 
matters  of  religion.  A  large  number  are  gathered 
around  them  for  the  sake  of  education,  and  they  (the 
Druids)  enjoy  the  very  great  honor  in  that  nation. 
They  assign  rewards  and  punishments,  and  should 
any  one,  whether  a  private  individual  or  a  public  man, 
disobey  their  decrees,  then  they  exclude  him  from  the 
sacrifices.     Persons  thus  laid  under  edict  are  regarded 


ANCIENT  IRELAND,  3ia 

as  impious  and  wicked  people;  everybody  avoids  them, 
and  shuns  their  society  and  conversation,  lest  he 
should  be  injured  by  associating  with  them. 

"The  Druids  take  no  part  in  warfare,  nor  do  they 
pay  taxes  like  the  rest  of  the  people.  They  are  ex- 
empt from  military  service  and  from  all  public  bur- 
dens. Attracted  by  such  rewards,  many  come  to  be 
instructed  of  their  own  choice,  while  others  are  .sent  by 
their  parents.  They  are  reported  to  learn  in  the  schools 
a  great  number  of  verses,  so  that  some  remain  there 
twenty  years.  They  think  it  an  unhallowed  thing  to 
commit  their  lore  in  writing,  though  in  the  other  pub- 
lic and  private  affairs  of  life,  they  frequently  make  use 
of  the  Greek  alphabet.  Beyond  all  things,  they  are 
desirous  to  inspire  a  belief  that  men's  souls  do  not 
perish."  The  Druids  declined  to  worship  in  temples 
made  with  hands.  They  preferred  the  canopy  of  the 
sky,  and  conducted  their  religious  .services  within 
groves  of  the  venerable  oak  tree,  whose  dark  foliage 
cast  sombre  shade  over  their  rude  stone  altars. 

The  Druids  of  Ireland  appear  to  have  been  honored 
even  more  than  in  Gaul,  as  wc  find  them  in  the  palace 
of  Laeghaire  (Lerey)  at  Tara.  at  Cruachan  in  Con- 
naught,  and  at  Tulach-na  Druadh  (Killala)  both 
royal  seats  of  the  kings.  It  must  not  l)e  omitted  that 
they  esteemed  nothing  more  sacred  than  the  mistletoe. 
and  the  oak  tree  in  which  it  grew.  The  mistletoe  was 
called  in  their  language  "All  heal."  It  was  difficult 
to  be  found,  and  when  discovered  was  gathered  with 
religious  ceremonies,  particularly  at  the  sixth  day  of 
the  moon.  The  sacrifice  and  the  feast  being  duly  pre- 
pared  under  the  tree,  they  led  thither  two  white  oxen, 
whose  horns  were  then  bound  for  the  first  time.     This 


314  ANCIENT  IRELAND. 

ceremony  signifying  that  the  animals  had  never  been 
employed  in  labor.  The  Druids,  clothed  in  white,  as- 
cending the  tree,  cut  off  the  mistletoe  with  a  golden 
knife,  and  received  it  in  a  white  cloth.  They  then 
slew  the  victims,  invoking  the  favor  of  the  deity  on 
the  offering. 

Some  antiquarians  credit  the  Druidic  system  as  the 
basis  of  the  ancient  Triads,  which  would  argue  sur- 
prising depths  of  knowledge  for  those  times.  The  fol- 
lowing are  a  few  of  the  Triads:  The  three  qualifica- 
tions of  poetry,  endowment  of  genius,  judgment  from 
experience,  happiness  of  mind.  The  three  foundations 
of  judgment— bold  design,  frequent  practice,  frequent 
mistakes.  The  three  foundations  of  learning — seeing 
much,  suffering  much,  studying  much.  The  three 
foundations  of  happiness — suffering  with  content,  a 
hope  that  happiness  wull  come,  and  a  belief  that  it  will 
come.  The  three  foundations  of  thought — perspicuity, 
amplitude,  and  justice.  The  three  canons  of  perspicu- 
ity— the  word  that  is  necessary,  the  quantity  that  is 
necessary,  the  matter  that  is  necessary.  The  three 
canons  of  amplitude — appropriate  thought,  variety  of 
thought,  requisite  thought. 

Such  the  Druids,  such  the  men,  whose  terrible  op- 
position was  conquered  by  the  brave  Apostle  of  Ire- 
land. 

Strange  as  it  may  sound,  the  Irish  people  had,  some 
three  thousand  years  ago,  an  alphabet  and  a  system  of 
writing  on  stone  and  wood,  much  more  simple  than 
the  hierogl)  phics  of  Egypt.  The  letters  are  termed 
Oghams,  because  that  in  bardic  history,  the  invention 
is  attributed  to  Ogma,  son  of  Elathan,  a  prince  of  the 
Tuatha  de  Danaans,  a  people  whom  all  the  Celtic  tra- 


ANCIENT  IRELAND. 


315 


ditions  represent  as  the  most  cultured  of  the  primitive 
tribes.  The  alphabet  is  composed  of  four  sets  of  five 
letters  each,  and  five  symbols  of  some  dipthongs.  The 
following  are  the  letters,  but  the  symbols  are  omitted, 
as  they  are  complicated  in  form,  and  could  not  be 
easily  printed.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  consonants 
form  longer  lines  than  the  vowels.  The  lowest  line  is 
the  word  America. 


A  0    U    E      I 


H    D     T      C      Q 


B    L      F       5       N 


M  fi    NO  5T      R 


A    M     E 


I        C      A 


The  inscriptions  have  been  invariably  found  on 
tombstones.  Within  the  last  eighty  years  aoo  such 
stones  have  been  found  in  the  south  and  west  of  Ire- 
land.  Only  a  few  words  appear  on  each,  recording  the 
name  and  family  of  the  deceased,  and  in  some  instances 
of  eulogy.  The  letters  are  nearly  always  cut  on  the 
angular  line  of  the  left  side  of  the  upright  stone,  fadng 
Bishop  iiealy. 


316  ANCIENT  IRELAND. 

the  observer.  The  inscription  begins  at  the  bottom,  is 
read  upwardly  and  sometimes  is  continued  down  the 
right  side.  It  is  inferred  from  the  ancient  manuscripts 
that  news  and  messages  were  written  in  this  way  on 
rods  and  tablets  of  wood,  that  were  carried  from  place 
to  place  in  small  bundles.  The  bark  of  trees  was  used 
for  the  same  purpose.  There  is  reason  to  think  that 
the  Britons  learned  the  art  from  Ireland,  as  twenty-two 
Ogham  stones  have  been  found  in  the  south  and  west 
of  England  and  ten  in  Scotland.  Smith  an  English 
writer  states  in  his  "Antiquities"  that  even  the  Druids 
came  first  from  Erin  to  Britain,  thence  to  Gaul. 
Ogham  inscriptions  may  be  seen  in  the  British  Museum, 
and  in  the  Royal  Irish  Academy  at  Dublin. 

The  following  details  of  dress,  arms  and  music  are 
gleaned  from  the  writings  of  Eugene  O' Curry,  the  first 
of  modern  Celtic  scholars: 

An  Irish  chieftain  attracted  the  eye,  by  his  Cathbarr 
(pronounced  cow-bar)  a  helmet  of  bronze;  by  his 
cochall,  a  mantle  usually  of  green  color,  beneath  which 
was  a  tightly  fitting  tunic  of  wool  called  an  lonar,  but- 
toned and  reaching  nearly  to  the  knees,  that  covered 
an  under  garment  of  silk  "Leine  Sioda",  or  of  linen 
"Leine,"  according  to  the  rank  of  the  wearer.  A 
triuibus  (truis)  generally  striped  of  several  colors, 
hose  and  pantaloons  united  in  a  single  piece. 

The  shield  named  Sciath  (skeed)  was  of  wicker-work 
bound  and  partly  covered  with  bronze;  the  Sleagh 
(shlea)  a  light  bronze-headed  spear;  the  Gae,  a  small 
javelin;  the  Cran  Tabhaill  (cran-towel)  a  sling  for 
stone  casting;  the  Beall,  a  sharp  edged  battle-axe;  the 
Carbud  Searrdha  (sharra)  a  war  chariot  armed  with 
scythes  or  knives;  such  the  arms.     Every  sect  had   its 


ANCIENT  IRELAND.  317 

own  banner,  distinguished  by  an  emblem  or  inscription; 
the  banner  of  the  Red  Hand  was  famous.  The  battle 
cry  was  Faire  !  Faire!  pronounced  farra,  with  accent 
on  last  syllable  and  the  second  sound  of  the  letter  a. 

The  musical  instruments  were  the  Adharc.  (eye-arc') 
an  ox  horn;  the  Corn  Buabhaill  (boovil)  a  horn  of 
bronze;  the  Cruit,  a  lar^e  harp;  the  Ceis  (kesh)  a 
smaller  harp;  the  Fidiol,  a  violin;  the  Piopaidhe  (pee- 
pay)  unknown;  and  the  Cuisle  Ciuil  (cushla  ciool)  a 
flute. 

Of  the  four  Celtic  dialects  now  existing,  the  Irish. 
Scotch,  Welsh  and  Erse,  the  Irish  is  justly  admitted  as 
approaching  nearest  to  the  mother  tongue.  This  is 
admitted  by  the  late  Mr.  Richard  Garrett,  one  of  the 
most  learned  of  English  philologists,  who  writes, 
"Irish  is  the  parent  tongue;  Scottish  Gaelic  is  Irish 
stripped  of  a  few  inflections;  and  Welsh  and  Erse  arc 
merely  Gaelic  with  a  few  peculiar  words,  and  dis- 
guised by  a  corrupt  system  of  orthography.**  It  is 
spoken  to  day  as  of  old  in  Connaught  and  part  of  Mun- 
ster,  and  receives  some  attention  in  the  other  two 
provinces.  Foreigners  of  note,  during  the  last  half 
century,  have  studied  it  closely,  deeming  it  one  of  the 
keys  of  language  Among  these  we  read  the  names 
of  Pritchard;  of  Latham;  of  Blaclcie,  professor  of  Greek 
in  the  University  of  Edinburgh;  of  Newman  and 
Lewis,  botli  iMiglishmen;  of  Pictet  of  Geneva;  and  of 
German  linguists,  Zeuss,  Herr  Gluck,  Bopp,  Leo, 
Korner,  Sparschuh,  Gorres,  and  Holtxman.  The  lan- 
guage of  Ireland  is  copious  and  very  expressi\*e.  the 
wild  "Faire"  of  the  Irish  regiments  siomelimcs  struck 
terror  into  their  opponents.  It  i.H  the  language  of 
prayer;  its  terms  are  respectful  and  adoring;  it  is  the 


318  ANCIENT  IRELAND. 

language  of  affection:  the  mother  can  speak  to  her 
child  in  the  most  endearing  terms,  and  the  child  to  its 
mother;  it  is  the  language  of  oratory:  it  pleads  with 
earnestness  or  it  scathes  with  sarcasm;  or  it  rings  with 
indignation.  In  death,  it  intoned  the  keenest  sorrow; 
in  the  judgment-hall,  it  swayed  the  hearers;  on  the 
battle  field,  it  inspirited  the  soldier.  The  following 
charming  lines  were  written  in  1855,  by  the  Rev. 
Michael  MuUin  while  a  student  of  Maynooth  College: 

THE   CELTIC   TONGUE. 

I. 
It  is  fading,  it  is  fading,  like  the  leaves  upon  the  trees! 
It  is  dying,  it  is  dying,  Hke  the  western  ocean  breeze! 
It  is  fastly  disappearing,  as  footprints  on  the  shore, 
Where  the  Barrow,  and  the   Brne,  and  Lough  Swilly's  waters 

roar, 
Where  the  parting  sunbeam  kisses  the  Corrib  in  the  West, 
And  the  ocean,  like  a  mother,  clasps  the  Shannon  to  its  breast! 
The  language  of  old  Erin,  of  her  history  and  name, 
Of  her  monarchs  and  her  heroes,  of  her  glory  and  her  fame. 
The  sacred  shrine  where  rested,  through  her  sunshine  and  her 

gloom. 
The  spirit  of  her  martyrs,  as  their  bodies  in  the  tomb! 
The  time-wrought-shell  where  murmured  through  centuries  of 

wrong. 
The  secret  voice  of  Freedom  in  annal  and  in  song, 
Is  surely,  fastly  sinking  into  silent  death  at  last, 
To  live  but  in  the  memories  and  relics  of  the  past. 

II. 
The  olden  tongue  is  sinking,  like  a  Patriarch  to  rest, 
Whose  youthhood  saw  the  Tyrian,  on  our  Irish  coasts  a  guest, 
Ere  the  Saxon  or  the  Roman,  ere  the  Norman  or  the  Dane, 
Had  first  set  foot  in  Britain,  or  the  Visigoth  in  Spain, 
Whose  manhood  saw  the  Druid  rite  at  forest  tree,  and  rock. 
The  savage  tribes  of  Britain,  round  the  shrines  of  Zernebock, 


ANCIENT  IRELAND.  81» 

And  for  generations  witnessed  all  the  glories  of  the  Gael, 
Since  our  Celtic  sires  sung  war  songs  round  the  warrior  fires  of 

Baal, 
The  tongues  that  saw  its  infancy  are  ranked  among  the  dead. 
And  from  their  graves  have  risen  those  now  spoken  in  their 

stead, 
All  the  glories  of  old  Erin,  with  her  liberty  have  gone, 
Yet  their  halo  lingered  round  her,  while  her  olden  Tongue  lived 

on, 
For  mid  the  desert  of  her  woe,  a  monument  more  vast. 
Than  all  her  pillar  towers  it  stood,  that  old  Tongue  of  the  Past. 

III. 
And  now  'tis  sadly  shrinking  from  the  soil  that  gave  it  birth. 
Like  the  ebbing  tide  from   shore,  or  the  Spring-time  from  the 

earth, 
O'er  the  island  dimly  fading,  as  a  circle  o*er  the  wave. 
Still  receding,  as  its  people  lisp  the  language  of  the  slave. 
And  with  it,  too,  seem  fading,  as  a  sunset  into  night. 
All  the  scattered  rays  of  Freedom,  that  lingered  in  its  light; 
For,  ah,  though  long  with  filial  love  it  clung  to  Motherlanil, 
And  Irishmen  were  Irish  still,  in  tongue,  and  heart,  and  hand. 
Before  the  Saxon  tongue,  alas!  proscribed  it  soon  became. 
And  we  are  Irishmen  to-day,  but  Irishmen  in  name. 
The  Saxon  chain  our  rights  and  tongue,  alike  doth  hold  in  thrall. 
Save  where  amid  theConnaught-wilds  and  hills  of  Donegal, 
And  by  the  shores  of  Munster,  like  the  broad  Atlantic  blast. 
The  olden  language  lingers  yet,  an  echo  from  the  Past, 

IV. 
Through  cold  neglect  'tis  dying,  like  a  stranifer  on  our  short. 
No  Teamhore's  halls  shall  vibrate  to  its  thrilling  tonct  o'trmort. 
No  Laurence  fire  the  Celtic  clans  'round  'le«gnerid  AllMidt, 
No  shannon  waft  froai  Luimneach's  toweri,  thtir  wnr-aoogi  lo 

the  sea. 
Ah,  the  pleasant  Tongue,  whoae  accents  wert  mnaic  to  tht  mx\ 
Ah,  the  Magic  Tongue,  that  round  us  wove  its  spells  an  soft  nad 

dear! 
Ah,  the  glorious  Tongue,  whose  murmur  oonld  Mch  Otilic  benrt 

enthrall! 


320  ANCIENT  IRELAND. 

Ah,  the  rushing  Tongue,  that  sounded  like  the  rushing  torrents 

fall! 
The  tongue  that  in  the  Senate,  was  the  lightning  flashing  bright* 
Whose  echo  in  the  battle,  was  the  thunder  in  its  might; 
The  tongue  that  once  in  chieftain's  hall,  swelled  loud  the  min- 
strel's lay, 
As  chieftain,  serf,  or  minstrel  old,  is  silent  there  to-day; 
Whose  pass- word  burst  upon  the  foe  at  Kong  and  Mullaghmast, 
Like   those   who   nobly  perished  there,  is  numbered  w4th  the 

Past! 

V. 
The  Celtic  tongue  is  fading,  and  we  coldly  standing  by — 
Without  a  pang  within  the  heart,  a  tear  within  the  eye — 
Without  one  pulse  for  Freedom  stirred,  one  effort  made  to  save 
The  language  of  our  fathers,  lisp  the  language  of  the  slave  ! 
Sons  of  Erin  !  vain  your  efforts — vain  your  prayers  for  freedom's 

crown, 
Whilst  you  crave  it  in  the  language  of  the  foe  that  clove  it  down. 
Know  you   not  that   tyrants   ever,  with   an   art  from  darkness 

sprung. 
Strive  to  make  the  conquered   nation,  slave   alike  in  limb   and 

tongue. 
The  Russian  Bear  ne'er  stood  secure,  o'er   Poland's  shattered 

frame. 
Until  he  trampled  from    her   breast,  the   tongue  that   bore  her 

name. 
Oh,  be  Irish.  Irishmen,  and  rallv  for  the  dear   old  Tongue, 
Which,  as  ivy  to  a  ruin,  to  the  dear  old  land  has  clung, 
O,  snatch  this  relic  from  the  wreck,  the  only  and  the  last, 
To  show  what  Erin  ought  to  be,  by  pointing  to  the  Past. 

CHRISTIAN  IRELAND. 
During  the  reign  of  Niall  A.  D.  388,  we  have  seen 
the  pirate  galleys  of  Krin,  sweep  alon-g  the  coast  of 
Gaul,  laying  waste  its  fair  fields,  and  seizing  its 
youths  as  captives  to  be  sold  in  the  market,  among 
them  being  Patrick  the  son  of  a  Roman  decurio.  He 
was  then  sixteen  years  of   age,    and    was   sold   to   a 


57:  PATRICK,  381 

chieftain  in  Antrim  named  Milcho,  who  sent  him  to 
tend  sheep  and  swine  amid  the  mountains.  He  himself 
tells  us  of  his  captivity  in  his  work  known  as  the 
"Confession,"  written  towards  the  close  of  his  life. 
The  Rev.  James  Todd  D.  D.  of  Dublin  University,  a 
Protestant  clergyman,  eminent  in  Celtic  literature  not 
only  admits  that  the  * 'Confession"  is  genuine,  but 
quotes  in  its  defense  the  following  distinguished 
writers:  Ware.  Usher,  Cave,  Spelman,  Tillemont, 
Mabillon,  D'Achery,  Martene,  Du  Cange,  Bollandus, 
Dupin,  O'Connor,  Lanigan,  and  Villaneuva. 

St.  Patrick  in  his  "Confession"  writes:  "I  was 
carried  captive  into  Ireland  with  many  thousands  of 
men,  as  we  deserved,  for  we  had  not  guarded  the  com- 
mandments. After  I  had  come  to  Ireland,  I  was  daily 
tending  sheep,  and  many  times  in  the  day  I  prayed, 
and  more  the  love  of  God  and  his  faith  and  fear  grew 
in  me,  and  the  spirit  was  stirred;  so  that  in  a  single 
day  I  have  said  as  many  as  a  hundred  prayers,  and  in 
the  night  nearly  the  same,  so  that  I  remained  in  the 
woods  and  on  the  mountains,  and  before  the  dawn  I 
was  called  to  prayer  by  the  snow,  the  ice,  and  the  rain. 
One  night  I  heard  a  voice  in  my  sleep  saying,  'Thou 
dost  fast  well,  fasting  thou  shalt  soon  go  to  thine  own 
country,'  and  again,  after  a  little  time  I  had  an  answer 
saying,  'Behold  thy  ship  is  ready.'  And  the  place 
was  not  near,  perhaps  at  the  distance  of  200  miles,  and 
I  had  never  been  in  the  place,  and  knew  none  of  the 
people  living  there.  After  this  I  fled,  and  left  the 
man  with  whom  I  had  been  for  six  years,  and  I  came 
in  the  strength  of  the  Lord,  who  guided  my  way  for 
good;  and  I  had  no  fear,  until  I  reached  the  ship.  On 
the  day  of  my  arrival,  the  ship  had  nioveil  out  of  her 


322  THE  FIFIH  CENTURY. 

place,  and  I  asked  that  I  might  be  taken  on  board  and 

sail  with   them,   but  the  master   was  unwilling,   and 

answered   angrily,     *By    no   means   attempt  to    come 

with  us.'     When  I  heard  the  answer,  I  turned  away 

to  seek  the  cottage  where  I  had   lodged,  and  on   the 

way  I  began  to  pray,  and  before  my  prayer  was  ended, 

I  heard  one   of   them   shouting   with   a   loud   voice, 

'Come  quickly,  for  these  men  are   calling   thee,'    and 

returning  at  once,  they  addressed  me  and  said,  'Come, 

we  receive  thee  in  good   faith,  let  us   be  friends   in 

whatever  way  you  will.'     After  three  days  we  reached 

the  land,  and  for  twenty-eight  days  journeyed  through 

an    uninhabited    country.       The    men's     provisions 

failed,  and  they  suffered  grievously  trom   hunger;  and 

one  day  the  master  said  to  me,  'What  say  est  thou,    O 

Christian!  thy  God  is  mighty  and  can  do  all  things; 

why  cannot  you  then  pray  for  us,  since  we  are  nigh  to 

death  with  hunger,  and  it  will  go  hard   with   us  ever 

to  see  the  face  of  man  again?'     Then,  I  said  to  them 

plainly,  'Turn  in  faith  to  the  Lord  my   God,  to  whom 

nothing  is  impossible  that  He  may  send  us  abundant 

food  upon  our  way,   for   His   storehouses   are   in  all 

places.'     And,  by  the  help  of  God,  so  it  came  to  pass, 

for  behold  a  herd  of  swine  appeared  on  the  way  before 

our  eyes,  and  the  men    killed  a   great  number,    and 

remained  there  for  two    nights   greatly  strengthened 

for  already  many  had  been  left  half  dead  on   the  road. 

After  this  they  gave  the    greatest  thanks  to  God,  and 

I  was  honored  in  their  eyes." 

After  visiting  his  relations,  he  retired  to  the  monas- 
tery of  his  maternal  uncle,  St.  Martin  of  Tours,  where 
he  spent  four  years  in  prayer  and  study,  and  received 
clerical  tonsure  and  minor  orders.      At  the  end  of  the 


ST.  PATRICK.  823 

four  years  he  returned  to  his  friends  and  edi6ed  and 
charmed  all  by  his  saintly  life.  We  then  read  of  a 
vision  accorded  to  him  which  he  thus  describes:  "In 
the  bosom  of  the  night  I  saw  a  man  who  seemed  to 
come  from  Ireland,  and  he  bore  innumerable  letters 
with  him,  one  of  which  he  gave  to  me.  And  I  read 
the  beginning  of  the  letter,  in  which  was  written. 
'The  voice  of  the  Irish,'  and  as  I  read  aloud  the  first 
words  of  the  letter,  I  thought  I  heard  in  my  mind  the 
voices  of  tho.se  who  were  nigh  to  the  forest  of  Focblut 
Tirawly  (Mayo),  that  borders  the  Western  sea.  and 
they  cried  out,  'We  entreat  thee  holy  youth,  to  come 
and  walk  still  among  us,'  and  my  heart  was  deeply 
pierced,  so  that  I  could  read  no  more,  and  so  I  awoke. 
Thanks  be  to  God  that  after  many  years  the  Lord 
hath  granted  their  desire,  as  they  cried  to  Him." 

After  this  we  find  him  at  the  Island  of  Lerins  in  the 
Mediterranean,  studying  at  the  celebrated  University 
there,  one  of  the  most  famous  sanctuaries  of  piety  and 
learning  in  the  world  at  that  time.  In  St.  Patrick's 
time  Lernis  was  sanctified  by  the  presence  of  Hilary  of 
Aries,  Eucherius  of  Lyons,  Lupus  of  Troyes.  and 
Vincent  of  Lerins,  and  it  was  as  a  pupil  of  this  great 
school  that  he  first  made  his  appearance  at  Rome. 
Leaving  Lerins  he  placed  himself  under  the  spiritaal 
direction  of  St.  Germanus  of  Auxerre.  Probus.  a  writer 
of  the  ninth  century,  tells  us  that  St.  Patrick  spent 
many  years  with  Germanus;  ''in  patience,  obedieBce, 
charity,  and  chastity,  in  sanctity  of  heart  and  soul." 
He  was  ordained  priest  at  the  age  of  thirty.  At  length, 
the  holy  bishop  Germanus  was  sent  by  Pope  Celestine 
to  Britain  to  oppose  the  Pelagian  heresy  there,  and 
St.  Patrick  accompanied  him,  A.  D.  429.     Two  yora 


324  THE  FIF  TH  GENTUR  V. 

after,  Palladius,  archdeacon  of  the  same  pope,  was  sent 
to  Ireland  to  win  to  the  faith  the  Druid  priests  and  the 
wild  warriors  of  Erin.  Patrick  hearing  of  this  was 
incited  anew  to  his  great  mission,  and  immediately  set 
out  for  Rome  to  obtain  the  papal  benediction.  Having 
obtained  it,  he  took  his  departure  for  Ireland,  but 
being  informed  on  his  journey  of  the  death  of  Palladius, 
stopped  at  Eboria  (Ivrea)  in  Gaul,  and  was  consecrated 
bishop  by  St.  Amator.  Though  now  in  his  6oth  year, 
yet  fired  with  an  ardent  zeal,  he  moved  quickly  for- 
ward on  his  way  to  the  Green  Isle,  and  this  time  the 
galley  of  the  plashing  oar  bore  him  onwards,  not  as  a 
slave,  but  as  an  apostle,  as  a  Christian  soldier  jubilant 
in  the  certainty  of  victory. 

The  saint's  life  has  been  written  by  different  authors 
of  different  countries.  Hundreds  of  writers  have  borne 
testimony  to  his  virtues  and  his  labors.  Bineen,  dis- 
ciple of  St.  Patrick,  wrote  a  life  of  the  Saint  and  tells 
us  that  in  his  time  there  were  already  sixty-six 
lives  published.  Kieran  published  one  A.  D.  480; 
Benignus,  500;  Fiech,  about  the  year,  506;  Mael,  492; 
lyoman,  470;  Evin,  510;  Tirechan,  655;  Adamnan,  660; 
Probus,  9th  century. 

Among  the  writers  of  France,  Italy,  Germany,  and 
other  lands  who  treat  of  St.  Patrick  we  find  Baillet, 
Birvat,  Texier,  Heinschenius,  Papebrock,  Bollandus, 
Baronius,  Bellarrain.  Among  historians  and  philoso- 
phers, we  find  Guthrie,  Gen.  Vallancey,  Crawford, 
Keogh,  Mosheim,  Harris,  Ware,  Goodwin,  Warner, 
Whittaker,  Littleton,  and  Camden.  Of  modern  Cath- 
olic historians  who  write  of  our  Saint,  we  can  say  that 
they  form  a  large  number. 

According  to  the  best  authorities   St.   Patrick   and 


57:  PATRICK,  8S5 

his  companions  landed  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Var- 
try  in  Wicklow  A.  D.  432.  Having  landed,  he  ad- 
dressed himself  to  Garchon,  the  ruling  chieftain,  but 
was  opposed  and  driven  off  by  his  son  Nathi,  who  had 
expelled  Palladius  the  year  before.  Patrick  moved  on. 
and  being  tired,  lay  down  on  the  bank  of  the  river  In- 
bher-Nainge  (nanny)  and  as  he  slept,  a  little  boy  named 
Benignus  (Bineen)  attracted  by  the  light  of  the  saint's 
countenance  drew  near;  then  collecting  the  wild  fra- 
grant flowers  around,  placed  them  in  the  old  man's 
bosom.  The  saint  awaking,  was  delighted,  blessed 
the  child  and  foretold  his  future  greatness.  Benignus 
succeeded  St.  Patrick  as  Archbishop  of  Armagh. 
Leaving  Meath,  he  proceeded  northwards  to  Strang- 
ford  Ivough  in  Down,  where  he  met  Dichu  prince  of 
the  province,  who  had  received  orders  from  Tara  to 
drive  the  stranger  from  the  shores  of  Ireland.  At  first 
the  prince  manifested  great  anger,  but  affected  by  the 
majesty  and  grace  of  the  Apostle,  was  converted,  and 
was  the  first  who  received  Baptism  in  Ulster.  The 
Saint  then  set  out  for  his  old  master  Milcho.  whose 
flocks  he  had  guarded  so  long,  but  Milcho  died  as  he 
had  lived.  As  Kaster  drew  nigh  St.  Patrick  determ- 
ined to  present  himself  before  Laeghaire  t!ie  Ard-Righ 
at  Tara,  on  the  festival  itself.  He  knew  the  risk  that 
he  ran,  but  he  had  fortitude  in  an  especial  degree.  On 
Easter  Kve  he  arrived  at  a  place,  now  called  Slane. 
pitched  his  tent  and  lighted  the  Pa.schal  fire  a  little  be- 
fore nightfall.  The  king,  having  heard  of  the  Apostle 
and  seeing  the  strange  fire,  was  infuriated;  next  mom* 
ing  mounted  his  chariot,  and  accompanied  by  body* 
guards,  set  out  to  meet  him,  declaring  his  determina- 
tion to  have  him  put  to  death.     When  he  came  within 


326  THE  FIFTH  CENTURY. 

sight,  he  sent  for  the  saint,  who  was  not  slow  in 
answ^ering  the  summons,  and  as  he  drew  near  he  sang 
the  Psalm,  "Some  trust  in  chariots,  and  some  in 
horses;  but  we  will  call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord  our 
God."  One  of  the  company,  Kic,  son  of  Dego,  was 
converted. 

On  Easter  Sunday,  our  Apostle  robed  in  white  vest- 
ments, with  mitre  on  his  brow,  and  crozier  in  hand 
accompanied  by  his  priests  in  sacerdotal  costume  ar- 
rived at  Tara  and  appeared  before  the  king  and  court. 
Then  was  a  controversy  with  the  Druids,  resulting  in 
the  conversion  of  the  queen,  and  permission  to  preach 
the  faith.  "Afterwards  Patrick  passed  through  the 
whole  country,  baptizing  the  believers  in  the  name  of 
the  Holy  Trinity,  and  God  was  his  helper,  and  con- 
firmed the  word,  by  the  signs  that  followed.  St.  Pat- 
rick's success  at  Tara  seems  to  have  laid  the  country  at 
his  feet.  After  this  we  see  him  like  a  conqueror  tri- 
umphing everywhere.  From  Tara,  he  went  to  Tell- 
town  in  Meath,  where  he  found  Cairbre  and  Conall, 
brothers  of  the  Ard-Righ.  Conall  was  baptized  and 
founded  the  church  at  Donagh- Patrick.  The  Apostle 
then  went  to  Cavan,  and  destroyed  the  idol  of  Crom 
Cruach,  then  passed  over  the  Shannon  to  Connaught, 
where  he  baptized  the  two  princesses  Ethne  and 
Feidelm.  Leaving  Roscommon,  our  Saint  went  to 
Sligo,  baptizing  and  founding  churches;  then  he  passed 
through  Mayo  UMtil  he  reached  the  high  mountain 
that  now  bears  his  name  Croagh  Patrick.  Only  a  little 
more  than  a  year  had  passed  since  his  landing,  yet  he 
had  preached  the  gospel  from  the  Irish  Sea  to  the 
Atlantic.  On  this  mountain  he  remained  in  prayer 
forty  days,  observing  so  strict  a  fast  that  he  neither 


ST.  PATRICK,  »7 

ate  nor  drank  all  that  time.  It  is  said  that  he  spent 
this  Lent  especially  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  by- 
prayer  and  penance  the  conversion  of  the  whole  island. 
Many  miracles  were  worked  by  the  Saint  in  proof  of 
his  divine  mission.  A  miracle  is  only  the  interposi- 
tion of  Almighty  God  either  to  prove  the  truth  of  the 
doctrine  taught,  or  to  attest  the  sanctity  of  the  person. 
Whoever  believes  in  Holy  Scripture  will  not  be  sur- 
prised at  miracles.  What  greater  than  those  of  Elias, 
Moses,  and  Josue  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  of  Saints 
Peter  and  Paul  in  the  New.  The  conversion  of  Ire- 
land without  miracle,  would  be  the  greatest  miracle 
of  all. 

Our  Saint  having  passed  into  Connaught  and  re- 
mained there  seven  years,  preaching,  erecting  churches 
and  ordaining  priests,  returned  to  watch  over  his  con- 
verts in  Ulster  and  Leinster.  We  read  of  him  in 
Tyrone  and  Donegal,  in  Antrim,  in  Louth,  in  Kildare, 
in  Queens  Co.,  in  Ossory,  until  he  arrives  at  Cashel  in 
Munster.  Aengus,  the  prince  of  the  territory,  was 
converted  and  baptized.  The  men  of  North  Munster. 
especially  of  Limerick,  hearing  of  his  coming,  came  in 
their  boats,  "a  very  fleet,"  to  meet  him,  and  found 
him  at  Terry-Glas  in  Ormond,  on  the  shores  of  Ix>ugh 
Derg,  and  were  baptized  there.  The  saint  delighted^ 
ascended  the  hill  of  Sinnine,  and  imparted  his  blessiog 
to  all  around.  The  foundation  of  the  church  and  see 
of  Armagh  is  the  next  great  event  in  his  life.  He 
himself  was  its  first  archbishop.  The  apostle  beomse 
of  his  advanced  years  retired  from  the  See  of  Aniuigh 
many  years  before  his  death,  and  during  that  inlerval 
saw  four  archbishops  succe.ssively  fill  the  See.  The 
last  years  of  his  life  were  spent  at  Armaijh.  and  he  hid 


328  THE  FIFTH  CENTURY. 

the  great  happiness  of  seeing  the  Faith  spread  through- 
out the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land,  bishops  conse- 
crated, priests  ordained,  churches  built,  monasteries 
and  convents,  and  schools  erected;  prince  and  princess, 
bard  and  druid,  warrior  and  peasant,  kneeling  at  the 
foot  of  the  cross.  He  died  at  Saul  in  Ulster  on  the 
17th.  of  March,  A.  D.  493,  being  120  years  old.  He 
was  buried  at  Downpatrick,  the  funeral  obsequies  last- 
ing twelve  days. 

St.  Evin  thus  writes  of  him:  "A  just  man  indeed 
was  this  man;  with  purity  of  nature  like  the  patriarchs; 
a  true  pilgrim,  like  Abraham;  gentle  and  forgiving, 
like  Moses,  a  praiseworthy  psalmist,  like  David;  an 
emulator  of  wisdom,  like  Solomon;  a  chosen  vessel  for 
proclaiming  truth,  like  the  Apostle  Paul;  a  man  full  of 
grace  and  knowledge  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  like  the  be- 
loved John;  a  fair  flower-garden  to  children  of  grace 
a  fruitful  vine-branch;  a  lion  in  strength  and  power;  a 
dove  in  gentleness  and  humility;  a  serpent  in  wisdom 
to  do  good;  gentle,  humble,  merciful  to  the  sons  of  life; 
ungentle  to  the  sons  of  death;  a  servant  of  labor  for 
Christ;  a  king  in  dignity  and  power." 

*'THE  ISLAND  OF  THE  HOLY  AND 
THE  LEARNED." 
Ireland  became  a  new  land  under  the  wondrous  in- 
fluence of  Christianity.  From  the  (Jays  of  St.  Patrick 
it  was  for  centuries  as  a  light  to  Europe.  It  has  been 
lauded  by  the  writers  of  several  nations  as  the  home  of 
saints  and  scholars,  and  has  been  honored  with  the 
title  "The  Island  of  the  Holy  and  the  Learned."  It 
will  suffice  here  to  quote  from  the  English  Cardinal 
Newman  who  in  turn  quotes  from  the  German  historian 


CHRISTIAN  IRELAND,  9» 

Dollinger,  we  have  placed  in  italics  the  passages  to 
which  especial  attention  is  directed.  Cardinal  New- 
man writes,  "During  the  sixth  and  seven  centuries," 
says  Dr.  Dollinger  the  church  of  Ireland  stood  in  the 
full  beauty  of  its  bloom.  The  spirit  of  the  gospel 
operated  amongst  the  people  with  a  vigorous  and  vivi- 
fying power,  troops  of  holy  men,  from  the  bighe^t  to 
the  lowest  ranks  of  society,  obeyed  the  counsel  of  Christ 
and  forsook  all  things  that  they  might  follow  hira. 
There  was  not  a  Coventry  of  the  world  during  this  period, 
that  could  boast  of  pious  foundations  or  of  religious 
communities  equal  to  those  that  adorned  this  far  dis- 
tant island.  Among  the  Irish  the  doctrines  of  the 
Christian  religion  ivere  pcrserved pure  and  entire.  The 
schools  of  the  Irish  cloisters  were  at  this  time  the 
most  celebrated  in  all  the  west  Whilst  almost  the 
whole  of  Europe  was  desolated  by  war,  peaceful  Ire- 
land, free  from  the  invasions  of  external  foes,  opened 
to  the  lovers  of  learning  and  piety  a  welcome  asylum. 
The  strangers  who  vi.sited  the  island,  not  only  from  the 
neighboring  shores  of  Britain,  but  also  from  the  most 
re77ioie  nations  of  the  continent  received  from  the  Irish 
people  the  most  hospitable  reception,  a  gratuitous  en- 
tertainment, free  instruction  and  exm  the  ^ks  that 
were  necessary  for  their  studies.  Thus,  in  the  year, 
536  in  the  time  of  St.  Senanu.s,  there  arrived  at  Cork, 
from  the  continent  fifteen  monks  who  were  led  thither 
by  their  desire  to  perfect  themselves  in  the  practices  of 
an  ascetic  life  under  Irish  director*,  and  ic  siudy  Ike 
Sacred  Scriptures  in  the  school  established  near  the 
city.  At  a  later  period,  about  the  ytar,  650.  the 
Anglo-Saxons  in  particular  passed  over  to  Ireland  in 
great  jiumbers  for  the  same  laudable  purpose.      On  the 


330  THE  FIFTH  CENTURY. 

other  hand,  many  holy  and  learned  Irishmen  left  their 
own  country  to  proclaim  the  faith,  to  establish  or  to 
reform  monasteries  in  distant  lands,  and  thus  to  become 
the  benefactors  of  almost  every  nation  of  Europe.  The 
foundation  of  many  English  Sees  is  due  to  Irishmen; 
the  Northumbrian  diocese  was  for  many  years  govern- 
ed by  them,  and  the  abbey  of  Lindisfarne,  which  was 
peopled  by  Irish  monks,  and  their  Saxon  disciples 
spread  far  around  its  all-blessing  influence.  In  crowds 
as  Aldhelm  writes,  the  English  went  to  Ireland,  or  the 
Irish  visited  England  where  the  archbishop  Theodore 
was  surrounded  by  Irish  scholars.  Of  the  most  cele- 
brated Anglo  Saxon-scholars  and  saints,  many  had 
studied  in  Ireland;  among  these  were  St.  Egbert,  the 
author  of  the  first  Anglo  Saxon  mission  to  the  pagan 
continent,  and  the  blessed  Willebrod,  the  Apostle  of 
the  Frieslanders,  who  had  resided  twelve  years  in  Ire- 
land. From  the  same  abode  of  virtue  andlearning^  came 
forth  two  English  priests,  both  named  Ewald,  who  in 
690,  went  as  messengers  of  the  Gospel  to  the  German 
Saxons,  and  received  from  them  the  crown  of  martyr- 
dom. An  Irishman,  Mailduf,  founded  in  the  year  670 
a  school,  which  afterwards  grew  into  the  famed  Abbey 
of  Malmesbury;  among  his  scholars  were  St.  Aldhelm, 
afterwards  Abbot  of  Malmesbury,  and  first  bishop  of 
Shelburne  or  Salisbury,  and  whom,  after  two  centuries 
Alfred  pronounced  to  be  the  best  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
poets. 

The  Cardinal  continues,  "The  sixth  and  seventh 
centuries  are  the  glory  of  the  Irish  Church.  The  Irish 
missionaries  travelled  down  through  England,  France, 
and  Switzerland,  to  lower  Italy,  and  attempted  Ger- 
many at  the  peril  of   their  lives,   converting   the   bar- 


CHRISTIAN  IRELAND.  331 

barian,  restoring  the  lapsed,  encouraging  the  desolate, 
collecting  the  scattered,  and  founding  churches, 
schools  and  monasteries  as  they  went  along.  In  the 
schools  of  science,  England  has  no  name  to  rival  ihe 
Irish  Erigena  in  oiiginality,  nor  the  Irish  St.  Virgil  in 
freedom  of  thouglit;  nor  among  its  canonized  women 
and  saintly  virgins  to  compare  with  the  Irish  St.  Brid- 
get; nor  although  it  has  150  saints  in  its  calender,  can 
it  pretend  to  tqual  that  Irish  multitude  which  the 
Book  of  Eife  alone  is  large  enough  to  contain  The 
Irishman  Clement  was  the  second  rector  of  the  .studium 
of  Paris;  the  Irish  John  founded  the  school  of  Pavia; 
and  the  Irish  Dungall  met  and  overthrew  the  pre- 
sumptuous and  heretical  Claudius  of  Turin.  Yet, 
after  all,  the  Irish  whose  brilliancy  of  genius  has  .some- 
times been  considered  like  the  Greek,  to  augur  fickle- 
ness and  change,  have  managed  to  preserve  to  this  day 
the  science  of  the  saints  long  after  their  ancient 
rivals  have  lost  the  gift  of  Faith." 

The  German  Gorres  writes,  "When  we  look  into  the 
ecclesiastical  life  of  this  people,  we  are  almost  tempted 
to  believe  that  some  potent  spirit  had  transplanted 
over  the  sea,  the  cells  of  the  valley  of  the  Nile,  with 
all  their  hermits;  its  monasteries  with  all  their  inmates, 
and  had  settled  them  down  on  the  Western  Isle.** 

The  Protestant  Ware  counts  no  less  than  164  mon- 
asteries, built  in  the  5th.  6th.  and  7th.  centuries;  and 
all  the  great  monasteries  had  large  schools  attached  to 
them. 

The  school  ot  Armagh  was  founded  by  St.  Patrick 
himself,  and  in  the  7th.  century  numbered  3000  stu- 
dents. The  great  scliool  of  Bangor  was  founded  by 
the  learned    St.  Comgall  in  =^^-  rho  sichool  of  Clooard 


332  THE  FIFTH  CENTURY. 

by  St.  Finnian  in  527.  "From  this  school,"  says  the 
Protestant  Wilde,  "undoubtedly  sprang  much  of  the 
learning  both  of  Britain  and  the  Continent." 

The  school  and  monastery  of  Clonmacnoise  were 
established  in  548  by  St.  Kieran.  "Clonmacnoise," 
says  O'Curry,  "continued  to  be  the  seat  of  learning 
and  sanctity,  the  retreat  of  devotion  and  solitude,  and 
the  favorite  place  of  interment  for  kings,  chiefs  and 
nobles,  of  both  sides  of  the  Shannon,  for  a  thousand 
years  after  the  founder's  time,  till  the  rude  hand  of 
the  despoiler  plundered  its  shrines,  profaned  its  sanctu- 
aries, murdered  or  exiled  its  peaceful  occupants,  and 
seized  on  its  sacred  property."  Lismore,  the  best 
known  of  the  schools  of  Munster,  was  founded  by  St. 
Carthage  in  633;  St.  Brendan  founded  the  great  school 
of  Clonfert,  where  frequently  3000  students  attend- 
ed lectures;  St.  Finbar,  the  school  of  Cork;  St. 
Columba,  the  school  of  Durrow;  St.  Ailbe,  the  school 
of  Emly,  that  never  numbered  less  than  600  students. 

In  Germany,  150  Irish  saints  are  found  as  patrons  of 
churches:  in  France,  45,  in  Belgium  30;  in  England, 
44;  in  Italy,  13;  in  Norway  and  Iceland,  8.  St.  Gall 
and  his  companions  evangelized  Switzerland.  The 
canton  St.  Gall  takes  its  name  from  the  great  Irish 
saint.  The  apostolic  labors  of  the  great  missionary  St. 
Columbanus  and  his  companions  in  France,  Italy,  and 
Germany  would  require  a  large  volume,  and  have  been 
in  part  historically  stated  by  Count  Montalembert. 
St.  Rupertus  preached  the  Gospel  with  great  success 
first  in  France,  afterwards  in  Germany  and  merited  the 
title  "Apostle  of  Bavaria."  Fridolin  surnamed  the 
Traveller,  preached  Christianity  in  Lorraine,  Alsace, 
and  Switzerland.     St.  Killian  "Apostle  of  Franconia," 


CHRISTIAN  IRELAND,  333 

was  martyred  in  Germany,  whilst  laboring  for  the 
church.  The  famous  scholar,  St.  Virgil,  preached  the 
gospel  in  France,  King  Pepin  the  father  of  Charlemagne 
being  one  of  his  audience.  St.  Livinius,  in  the  odor  of 
sanctity,  left  his  dear  Erin,  preached  the  Gospel 
through  Belgium,  and  sealed  his  faith  wiih  his  blood 
about  the  year  656. 

It  has  been  calculated,  that  Irish  monks  founded  in 
Scotland,  13  monastaries;  in  England  12;  in  Armaric 
Gaul,  12;  in  Lotharingia,  7;  in  Burgundy,  \2\  io 
Alsatia,  10;  in  Belgium,  9;  in  Bavaria,  16;  in  Italy.  6; 
inRetia,  Helvetia  and  Suevia,  15. 

Such  the  fruits  of  the  labors  of  St.  Patrick.  The 
Catholic  Church  celebrates  the  day  of  a  saint's  death 
rather  than  of  his  birth,  because  in  death  he  triumphs; 
at  death,  he  receives  the  crown  of  immortality.  On 
the  17th.  of  March,  therefore,  Irishmen,  the  world 
over,  remember  with  joy  and  with  gratitude  the  great 
man  who  brought  to  the  shores  of  green  Erin  the  light 
of  the  true  faith,  and  implanted  therein  the  precious 
cross  of  Christ.  Is  it  any  wonder,  then,  that  on  St. 
Patrick's  Day  the  children  of  Holy  Ireland  commemo- 
rate the  festival  with  prayer  and  gladness,  with  song 
and  music  and  procession,  with  flag  and  banner  and 
bannaret,  with  harp  and  with  shamrock,  and  though 
last,  not  least,  with  America's  Star  Spangled  Banner? 

THE  SIXTH  CENTURY. 
THE  NEMESIS. 

TOTILA,    THE   GOTHIC    KING,    DBSTROYS    ROMR. 

The  task  of  demolishing  the  last  vestiges  of  thedty 
and  institutions  of  Romulus  was  reserved  for  Totila,  • 

Gothic  king. 


334  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY, 

After  the  siege  and  capture  of  Naples,  the  far- 
famed  Belisarius,  who  had  risen  from  the  obscurity  of 
a  Thracian  peasant  to  command  the  armies  of  Justin- 
ian pursued  the  same  line  of  march  that  Hannibal  had 
taken  after  the  battle  of  Cannae,  and  advanced  by  the 
Latin-way  to  Rome.  As  he  approached  it  the  Goths 
withdrew  A.  D.  536,  after  an  oppressive  and  destruc- 
tive reign  of  sixty  years.  However,  it  was  only  to 
prepare  for  the  fated  city  a  new  series  of  disasters, 
that  they  retired.  From  their  rustic  habitations,  from 
their  distant  garrisons,  the  Goths  are  mustering  once 
more  upon  the  plains  of  Rimini  to  prosecute  the  great 
mission  undertaken  by  Alaric  in  the  early  part  of  the 
preceding  century;  and  so  in  the  opening  of  Spring, 
537,  their  squadrons,  pouring  along  to  the  number  of 
150,000  horse  and  foot,  can  be  discerned  from  the 
walls,  destined  to  be  shaken  by  the  fury  of  their 
assaults.  Procopius  the  historian,  who  acted  as 
secretary  to  Belisarius  and  was  an  eye-witness  of  the 
scenes  that  he  eloquently  describes,  has  left  us  a  very 
singular  anecdote  relative  to  that  portion  of  the  city 
walls,  called  "II  muro  torto,"  or  the  leaning  wall  to 
the  present  day.  "It  was  one  of  the  first  pointed  out 
to  his  pioneers  by  Belisarius,  as  standing  in  need  of 
being  taken  down  and  rebuilt  from  top  to  bottom;  but 
the  Romans  besought  him,  on  no  account,  to  meddle 
with  it;  for  that  St.  Peter  had  promised  to  take  care 
of  its  defence.  "The  event,"  he  continues,  "justified 
their  reliance,  for  neither  in  the  first  assault  (which 
came  upon  that  quarter  of  the  city),  nor  during  all  the 
time  they  beleagured  it,  was  that  part  ever  once 
molested;  an  exception  that  filled  us  all  with  astonish- 
ment, so  that  no  one  ever  daring  to  interfere  with  it 


I 


TOT/ LA  DESTROYS  ROME.  8S5 

afterwards,  it  remains  there  lo  this  day,  leaninj^  over 
and  shattered  as  when  we  saw  it  first." 

Gibbon  writes  of  it,  "The  fissure  and  leaning  in  the 
upper  part  of  the  wall  which  Procopius  observed,  is 
visible  to  the  present  hour." 

The  traveller  may  still  see  this  wonderful  monument 
of  imperishable  ruin,  at  about  a  furlong's  distance 
from  the  Porto. del  Popolo,  near  the  back  entrance  of 
the  Borghese  Villa. 

The  desertion,  during  the  night,  of  those  who  gar- 
risoned the  tower  of  the  Milvian  bridge,  left  the  Goths 
to  pass  the  Tiber  unmolested  and  unobserved;  so  that 
Belisarius,  in  riding  out  with  his  guards  next  morning 
before  dawn,  to  reconnoitre  their  forces,  deemed  to  be 
still  beyond  the  river  was  suddenly  encompassed  and 
attacked  by  the  Gothic  ho.sts.     *  The  fate  of  Ilaly," 
says  Gibbon,  "depended  on  his  life,  and  the  deserters 
pointed  to  a  conspicuous   horse,  a  bay,  with  a  white 
face,  which  he  rode  on  that  memorable  day.      'Aim  at 
the  bay  horse!'  was  the  universal  cry.     Every  bow  was 
bent;  every  javelin  directed  against   that  fatal  object, 
and  the  command  was  repeated  and  obeyed  by   thou- 
sands who   were   ignorant  of  its  real   moti%*e.     The 
bolder  barbarians   advanced   to   the   more   honorsble 
combat  of  sword  and  spear. 

"Belisarius  was  strong,  active,  and  dexteroos:  oo 
every  side  he  discharged  his  weighty  and  martial 
strokes;  his  faithful  guards  imitated  his  valor,  and  de- 
fended his  person;  and  the  Goths,  after  the  loaaof  a 
thousand  men.  fled  before  the  arms  of  a  hero.  They 
were  ra.shly  pursued,  and  the  Greeks,  oppressed  by 
multitudes,  made  a  gradual,  and  at  length  a  precipl* 
tons  retreat  to  the  gates  of  the  city;  the  gates  were 


336  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY, 

closed  against  the  fugitives,  and  the  public  terror  was 
increased  by  the  report  that  Belisarius  was  slain.  His 
countenance  was  indeed  disfigured  by  sweat,  dust,  and 
blood;  his  voice  was  hoarse;  his  strength  almost  ex- 
hausted, but  his  unconquerable  spirit  still  remained; 
he  imparted  that  spirit  to  his  desponding  companions; 
and  their  last  desperate  charge  was  felt  by  the  flying 
barbarians  as  if  a  new  army,  vigorous  and  entire,  had 
been  poured  from  the  city.  The  Flaminian  gate  was 
then  thrown  open  to  a  real  triumph;  but  it  was  not 
before  Belisarius  had  visited  every  post,  and  provided 
for  the  public  safety,  that  he  could  be  persuaded  by 
his  wife  and  friends  to  taste  the  needful  refreshments 
of  food  and  sleep."  But  these  displays  of  prowess, 
and  the  indefatigable  valor  and  energy  of  the  Greek 
general  in  defending  the  circuit  of  the  walls,  against 
the  repeated  and  desperate  assaults  of  the  barbarians, 
instead  of  being  advantageous  to  the  doomed  city,  only 
served  to  hasten  the  destruction  of  its  people  and  still 
remaining  monuments.  In  the  walls,  as  repaired  by 
Belisarius,  the  fragments  of  ancient  architecture  are 
still  discernible.  His  style  of  erection  was  called  opus 
tumultudrium  to  indicate  the  heterogeneous  character 
of  the  materials  used,  and  the  reckless  hurry  with 
which  columns,  statues,  altars,  and  entablatures,  were 
seized  and  piled  indiscriminately  together,  with  what- 
ever else  could  help  to  fill  up  a  breach.  The  work  of 
destruction  was  carried  on  with  equal  industry  outside 
the  walls.  The  besiegers  ruined  all  the  noble  aque- 
ducts, that  the  supply  of  water  might  be  cut  off  from 
the  city,  and  it  was  also  in  this  siege  that  the  tomb  of 
Hadrian  was  despoiled  of  the  multitudes  of  statues 
that  adorned  it.    The  Greeks  who  had  changed  it  into 


TO  TIL  A  DESTROYS  ROME,  387 

a  fortress,  in  defending  it  against  an  attack  of  the 
Goths,  tore  the  masterpieces  of  Praxiteles  and  Lysip- 
pus  from  their  pedestals  and  hurled  the  fragments  into 
which  they  had  shattered  them,  down  npon  the  heads 
of  the  assailants.  The  siege  lasted  an  entire  year,  and 
entailed  upon  the  unfortunate  Romans  the  most  bitter 
sufferings.  Their  granaries,  which  they  had  been 
compelled  to  store  with  the  fruits  of  their  hard  toil, 
and  with  what  should  have  been  the  subsistence  of 
their  families,  were  kept  guarded  that  the  foreign  gar- 
rison might  be  feasted,  while  they,  with  their  wives 
and  children,  were  perishing  of  famine  in  the  streets. 
They  were  next  doomed  to  see  the  pledges  of  their 
affection  torn  from  them,  by  those  who  called  them- 
selves their  protectors,  and  sent  into  distant  exile,  ex- 
posed to  every  insult  and  privation;  all  on  the  plea  of 
relieving  the  garrison.  Even  when  the  Goths  re- 
treated, the  Romans  had  but  little  reason  to  rejoice. 
They  had  already  found  the  Greeks  to  be  worse  tyrants 
than  the  barbarians  had  ever  been.  Meantime  the 
Greek  arms  were  crowned  in  every  direction  with  sig- 
nal success,  and  nothing  but  this  was  wanted  to  con- 
summate the  destruction  of  Rome,  and  of  whatever  of 
Roman  art  and  manners  that  still  survived  in  Italy. 
Belisarius  and  his  lieutenants  had  routed  and  driven 
the  Goths  before  them,  from  city  to  city — from  Cam- 
pania to  Latium  and  the  Abruzzi,  from  the  .Ahrutti 
and  Latium  to  Tu.scany  and  the  Picenum.  and  thence 
to  the  Cisalpine  provinces — leaving  the  entire  length 
and  breadth  of  the  hapless  land,  from  Naples  to 
Ravenna,  strewn  with  smokinjr  ruins  and  heaps  of 
dead. 

But  a  terrible  reverse  followed;  in  the  space  of   two 


338  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY. 

years  more,  the  Greeks  were  in  their  turn,  routed  in 
all  directions  by  the  Goths,  and  the  entire  country 
with  its  cities  and  fortresses  re-conquered  by  Totila,  the 
Gothic  king  who  came  to  put  the  finishing  stroke  to 
the  work  of  desolation.  He  made  it  a  general  rule 
that  the  walls  of  all  the  cities,  and  every  place  that 
■could  afford  shelter  to  his  enemies,  were  to  be  levelled 
with  the  ground.  This  policy  was  pursued  by  him,  in 
order  to  deprive  the  Greeks  of  the  advantages  they 
derived  from  their  superior  skill  in  the  arts  of  defence, 
and  to  secure  for  the  Goths  the  full  advantage  of  their 
superior  numbers  and  bravery,  by  bringing  the  war  to 
an  issue  in  the  open  field. 

While  this  was  Totila's  style  of  proceeding,  the 
Greeks,  officers  as  well  as  common  soldiers,  carried  on 
the  war  against  the  unf orunate  people  within  the  walled 
towns,  plundering  them  of  their  goods  without  mercy, 
and  ill-using  their  wives  and  daughters;  so  that  while 
the  open  country  was  ravished  by  the  infuriated  Goths 
the  cities  and  strong  places  were  made  scenes  of  great- 
er horror  by  the  Greeks.  Thus  did  every  thing  con- 
spire for  the  extirpation  of  the  once  all  conquering  peo- 
ple. "Moreover,"  continues  Procopius,  "the  Caesar- 
ians — generall}^  foreign  mercenaries — struck  them^ 
and  insulted  them  without  cause,  and  so  stripped  them 
of  everything  the}''  had,  that  they  died  of  destitu- 
tion.' '  These  miseries  and  the  exactions  of  the  tax-com- 
inissioner  caused  the  Romans  to  look  back  with  sighs 
of  regret  to  the  far  less  insufferable  tyranny  of  the  bar- 
barians. To  crown  their  distress,  the  terrific  plague 
that  had  raged  for  the  space  of  fifty  years,  and  had 
swept  away  half  of  the  human  race  all  over  the  known 
world,  arrived  at  this  juncture  on  the  shores  of  Italy, 


TOTILA  DESTROYS  ROME.  8S9 

A.  D.  543  with  the  armies  of  theeistera  emperor;  and 
it  was  appropriately  enough,  amidst  this  continuation 
of  woes  that  the  king  of  the  Ostrogoths,  Totila.  sat  down 
before  Rome  for  the  last  time,  determined  to  finish  what 
the  Visigoths  had  begun  under  Alaric,  and  to  leave  the 
seven  hills  of  Rome  as  desolate  as  they  were  before 
Romulus  began  to  build  the  city. 

*'Totila,"  says  Gibbon,  "proceeded  not  by  assault, 
but  to  encompass  and  starve  the  ancient  capitol. 
**Rome  was  afflicted  by  the  avarice,  and  guarded  by 
the  valor  of  Bessas,  a  veteran  chief  of  barbarian  extrac- 
tion, who  filled  with  a  garrison  of  three  thousand 
Greek  soldiers  the  spacious  circle  of  her  venerable  walls. 
From  the  distress  of  the  people  he  extracted  a  profita- 
ble trade,  and  secretly  rejoiced  at  the  continuance  of 
the  siege.  It  was  for  his  use  the  granaries  had  been 
filled:  the  charity  of  Pope  Vigilius  (then  held  in  exile 
by  the  Greek  Court)  had  purchased,  and  embarked  an 
ample  supply  of  Sicilian  corn:  but  the  vessels  that  es- 
caped the  barbarians  were  seized  by  the  rapacious  gov- 
ernor, who  imparted  a  scanty  sustenance  to  the  soldiers. 
and  sold  the  remainder  to  the  wealthy  Romans  The 
medimnus,  or  fifth  part  of  the  quarter  of  wheat,  was  ex  • 
changed  for  seven  pieces  of  gold;  fifty  pieces  weregiv- 
en  for  an  ox.  As  for  the  common  people,  they  were 
gradually  reduced  to  feed  on  dead  horses,  dogs,  cats, 
and  mice,  and  eagerly  to  snatch  the  grass  and  nettles 
that  grew  among  the  ruins  of  the  city. 

"Among  the  Roman  clergy  of  that  day.**  >ays  Pro- 
copius,  "was  the  deacon  Pelagius,  not  long  retamcd 
from  Byzantium  where  during  his  long  sojourn  as  pt- 
pal  nuncio,  he  had  grown  into  high  favor  with  the 
Emperor  Justinian.     The  care  of  the  Roman  church 


340  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY. 

had  been  confided  to  him  during  the  exile  •  of  Pope 
Vigilius  and  as  the  distress  of  the  siege  increased,  he 
distributed  the  most  of  his  wealth  among  the  indigent, 
thereby  greatly  adding  to  the  high  reputation  he  had 
already  earned  with  all  his  countryman.  It  was  to  this 
Pelagius,  that  resort  was  had  by  the  Romans  in  their 
extremity,  imploring  him  to  repair  to  the  camp  of 
Totila,  to  beg  a  truce  even  of  a  few  days,  at  the  expi- 
ration of  which  term  they  promised  to  surrender  at  dis- 
cretion, if  no  relief  in  the  interim  arrived.  The  Gothic 
king  received  him  with  every  honorable  distinction, 
at  the  same  time  declaring  his  unalterable  determina- 
tion to  press  the  siege,  and  when  taken,  to  level  Rome 
with  [the  ground.  The  Cardinal-deacon's  appeal  is 
given  'at  length  by  the  historian:  he  concluded,  by 
solemnly  warning  the  barbarian  conqueror,  that,  high 
as  he  was,  there  was  One  still  higher,  whose  indigna- 
tion seldom  failed  to  overtake  those,  who ,  in  their  hour 
of  triumph  treated  the  supplications  of  the  unforunate 
with  insolent  contempt.  Thus  saying  Pelagius  retired, 
whom  when  the  Romans  saw  returning  without  having 
succeeded,  their  apprehensions  became  insupportable.* 
Day  by  day,  they  saw  their  numbers  thinned  by  the 
raging  famine,  that  became  more  terrible,  as  it  sug- 
gested aliment  abhorent  not  only  to  usage,  but  even 
to  human  nature. 

Corn  was  sold  at  seven  gold  pieces  the  medimnus, 
by  Bessas  and  Conon  who  had  stored  up  large  quanti- 
ties. An  ox,  taken  in  a  foray  by  the  guards,  was  sold 
for  fifty  pieces  of  gold.  He  who  met  with  a  dead 
horse  or  anything  of  that  sort  was  accounted  fortu- 
nate, and  endeavoured  to  preserve  the  precious  carrion 
by  every  art.     As  to  the  common  people,  they  lived  as 


TOTILA  DESmOYS  ROME.  S41 

best  they  could  on  nettles,  that  grew  in  great  quan- 
tities around  the  walls,  and  among  the  ruins,  and 
to  save  their  mouths  and  throats  from  being  stung  by 
them,  they  cooked  them  as  well  as  they  could.  While 
money  lasted,  the  higher  ranks  of  the  Romans  pro- 
cured meal  and  bran,  but  when  they  had  no  more  gold, 
they  brought  their  costly  furniture  into  the  Forum, 
and  gave  it  for  what  would  provide  a  miserable  meal. 

Meanwhile  the  arrival  of  Belisarius  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Tiber  created  the  most  feverish  excitement  of  hope 
in  the  survivors.  From  the  Capitoline  towers,  from 
the  Aventine,  and  the  parapets  of  the  walls,  his  cavalry 
could  already  be  descried  moving  along  the  Ostian 
way  and  the  river  banks,  to  cover  a  convoy  of  troops 
and  provisions  for  their  relief.  These  succours  were 
conveyed  in  a  flotilla  of  200  boats,  each  boat  betog 
protected  by  a  strong  rampart  of  thick  plauks,  with 
narrow  slits  and  port  holes  for  the  discharge  of  mis- 
siles. The  entire  flotilla,  towed  along  by  thousands  of 
oxen,  was  commanded  by  Belisarius  in  person,  stand* 
ing  on  a  wooden  castle  that  floated  on  two  large  ves- 
sels, linked  and  fastened  to  one  another  by  great  beams 
of  timber.  This  tower  of  considerable  height  was 
filled  with  the  most  desperate  of  his  soldiers,  and  pro* 
vided  with  a  magazine  of  fire,  sulphur  and  bitumen  to  be 
discharged  from  the  parapets  upon  the  enemy.  Nor 
had  Totila  been  wanting  in  foresight  and  exertions  to 
prepare  a  becoming  reception  for  the  great  captain. 
Ninety  furlongs  below  the  city,  he  had  joined  the  two 
banks  where  the  river  Tiber  is  the  narrowest,  by  llie 
trunks  of  large  trees  in  the  form  of  a  bridge.  On 
this  he  erected  two  lofty  towers,  manned  by  the  brav- 
est of  his  Goths,  well  provided  with  whate%*er  weapoiis 


342  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY, 

and  missiles  w  ere  best  calculated  to  inflict  annoyance 
and  destruction  on  the  Greeks.  The  approach  to  the 
bridge  and  towers  was  covered  by  a  strong  and  massy 
chain  of  iron. 

Upon  the  issue  of  the  collision  for  which  Greek  and 
Goth  are  equally  prepared  and  equally  nerved,  depends 
the  forlorn  hope  of  Rome.  That  hope  also  is  wound  up 
almost  within  grasp  of  certainty  of  liberation,  as  if  to 
render  the  agonies  of  wild  despair  aud  distracted  grief 
more  insupportable.  From  their  walls  and  towers, 
whence  they  had  stretched  out  their  lank  arms,  and 
raised  their  feeble  shrieks  as  the  battle  raged,  the  Ro- 
mans now  beheld  their  last  chance  of  deliverance  from 
the  barbarians  put  to  flight,  and  now  in  despair  see  no 
possibility  of  escape. 

But  that  the  unity  of  the  grand  tragedy  of  retribu- 
tion may  be  deficient  in  nothing,  the  city  is  doomed  to 
be  taken  for  the  last,  as  it  had  been  the  first  time,  by 
night  and  by  treachery. 

Four  sentinels  of  one  of  the  gates — Isaurians — let 
themselves  down  by  a  rope  ladder  from  the  battle- 
ments, while  their  officers  and  companions  of  the 
guard  were  sleeping,  and  soon  found  themselves  in 
presence  of  Totila,  to  whom  they  offered  to  betray  the 
city.  It  was  not,  however,  till  they  had  twice  re- 
peated their  noccurnal  visit  to  the  Gothic  camp,  and 
that  he  had  the  place  twice  carefully  examined  that 
the  Goth  put  his  bands  in  motiotj,  and  silently  entered 
the  Asinarian  gate.  This  was  at  dead  of  night.  To 
guard  against  treachery  or  ambush,  the  Goths  halted 
in  order  of  battle,  soon  as  they  had  got  within  the 
walls,  and  rested  on  their  arms,  until  the  dawn  brought 
with  it  the  certainty  that  Bessas  and  his  mercenaries 


TO  TIL  A  DESTROYS  ROME.  343 

had  fled.  Decius,  Basilius  and  a  few  other  patricians 
who  still  had  horses  to  carry  them,  also  took  to  flight; 
but  the  remnant  of  the  senate  and  the  people  sought 
to  shelter  themselves  from  the  sword,  by  crowding 
round  the  shrine  of  St.  Peter.  The  names  of  Olibrius. 
Orestes  and  Maximus,  occur  among  those  who  were 
thus  preserved. 

**It  being  now  clear  day,"  says  Procopius,  '*and  no 
cause  to  suspect  an  ambuscade  or  treachery,  strange  to 
tell,  while  Totila  repaired  to  the  temple  of  Peter  the 
Apostle,  the  Goths  in  their  fury  attacked  whom  they 
met;  whereupon  twenty-six  of  the  soldiery,  and  sixty 
of  the  people  were  slain.  When  Totila  came  to  the 
temple,  Pelagius  (the  Cardinal  archdeacon  before  men- 
tioned) presented  himself  before  him,  extending  to- 
wards him  the  oracles  of  Christ,  with  outstretched 
hands,  and  earnestly  implored  him  saying:  'Spare, 
spare  thy  people,  O  king!'  The  king  laughed  scorn- 
fully, and  said  in  a  tone  of  bantering,  'So  now,  Pela- 
gius comes  a  suppliant!'  'Yes,'  said  Pelagius,  *a  sup- 
pliant: because  now  by  the  will  of  God,  I  am  ihy 
servant.  But  do  thou,  O  king,  for  the  rest,  be  clement 
to  thy  servants.'  " 

Yielding  to  this  entreaty,  he  issued  strict  command 
that  no  Roman  should  be  further  injured  or  insulted; 
but,  after  reserving  a  royal  portion  of  the  »poil  for 
himself,  he  gave  free  license  to  the  Goths  to  plunder 
and  carry  off  whatever  they  thought  worth  taking. 
Great  was  the  wealth  still  left  in  palaces,  in  the  em- 
bellishment of  which  nothing  had  been  used  hot  what 
was  artistic  and  costly.  In  the  palace  occupied  by 
Bessas.  the  gold,  with  whatever  else  was  meal  valua- 
ble in  Rome,  was  found  in  abundance;  and  It  would 


344  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY, 

seem  as  if  that  sordid  and  hard-hearted  wretch,  aided 
by  direful  distress,  had  been  sent  as  an  active  agent  to 
wring  from  the  grasp  of  the  Romans  their  last  obolus, 
and  to  scrape  together  everything  in  the  shape  of 
riches  that  it  might  be  ready  to  the  barbarian  hand 
which  was  to  carry  away,  and  scatter  back  again,  this 
last  balance  of  restitution  over  the  long  plundered 
earth. 

In  this  revolution,  the  sons  and  daughters  of  Roman 
consuls  tasted  the  misery  which  they  had  often  spurn- 
ed and  relieved.  In  the  tattered  garments  of  slaves 
and  handmaids,  they  wandered  through  the  streets 
and  begged  a  sordid  pittance,  at  the  gates  of  their  own 
hereditary  mansions,  row  occupied  by  the  barbarian 
conquerors;  often  driven  away  with  blows  and  fero- 
cious mockery,  to  cast  themselves  down  among  the 
ruins  of  fallen  empire,  and  mourn  over  calamities  too 
great  for  utterance.  At  length  when  everything  was 
collected  from  the  palaces  and  public  edifices  that  were 
still  erect,  Totila  gave  orders  to  prepare  for  the  work 
of  demolition.  The  walls  first  cemented  by  the  blood 
of  Remus,  shed  by  the  hand  of  his  own  brother,  who 
gave  a  beginning  and  a  name  to  Rome,  had  been  ex- 
panding from  age  to  age,  to  make  room  for  the  spoils 
of  one  nation  after  another,  until  they  attained  their 
greatest  expansion  under  Aurdian.  Their  foundations 
were  again  reddened,  on  that  occasion,  by  the  blood  of 
barbarian  captives,  immolated  on  the  altars  of  the 
Capitol.  To  level  them  therefore  to  the  ground,  was 
the  first  task  of  the  Goths.  Fire  and  engines  were 
next  prepared  to  consume,  subvert,  and  tear  down 
whatever  of  the  seven-hilled  city  still  remained  entire; 
*'and  the  world,"  says  Gibbon,    "was   astonished   by 


TOTILA  DESTROYS  ROME.  345 

the  fatal  decree  that  Rome  should  be  changed  into  a 
pasture  for  cattle." 

Were  it  not  for  the  interference  and  entreaties  of 
Pelagius.  the  remnant  of  the  senate,  would  have  been 
all  executed,  the  day  after  the  city  was  taken;  ibey 
were  now  rudely  driven  forth  by  the  Gothic  cavalry. 
They  all  perished  not  long  after,  being  put  to  death 
in  their  own  Campanian  villas,  that  were  made  their 
prisons,  while  their  sons  were  likewise  massacred  in 
the  North  of  Italy.  Thus  did  the  institution  of  Romu- 
lus expire.  As  to  the  Roman  people,  a  mi.<ierable 
handful  of  forlorn  and  emaciated  outcasts — not  more 
than  five  hundred,  men,  women,  and  children,  as  they 
were — was  the  only  shadow  left  of  that  once  mighty 
name.  Even  these  were  now  led  away  into  .slavery  by 
the  Goths,  who  also  toie  down  the  gates  of  the  Eter- 
nal city,  and  carried  them  off  as  trophies.  Not  a 
single  human  being  was  permitted  to  remain.  The 
words  most  expressive  of  perfect  solitude  and  deser- 
tion are  those  adopted  by  Prccopius  to  describe  the 
condition  in  which  Totila  left  the  region  of  the  Seven 
Hills.  "In  Rome  he  suffered  nothing  human  to  re- 
main; leaving  it  altogether,  in  every  part,  a  perfect 
desert."  The  Chronicle  of  Marcellinus  adds,  that  for 
forty  days  and  upwards,  Rome  had  n'>  inh  >Uitant.H  but 
wild  beasts  and  birds  of  prey. 

It  was  towards  the  close  of  this  interval,  that  Belia* 
arius  felt  a  de.sire  to  vi.sit  and  survey  with  hin  own 
eyes,  the  ruins  of  a  place  that  had  been  the  theatre  of 
so  much  grandeur  and  renown;  and,  with  this  view, 
he  sallied  forth  from  the  sea-port  at  the  head  of  a 
strong  squadron  of  his  guards. 

'A  marble  wilderness  extended  on  every  side,  as  far 


346  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY. 

as  the  eye  could  reach,  strewed  with  the  ruins  of 
vitruvian  villas,  temples,  and  aqueducts;  the  waste 
water  of  the  latter  had  filled  the  valleys  and  overflowed 
the  long  rounds  of  the  Canipagna,  converting  into 
marshes  and  mantling  pools,  those  regions,  which, 
erewhile,  had  abounded  with  all  the  delights  of  the 
Hesperides.  The  thoroughfares  of  the  nations  were 
silent  and  lonely  as  the  double  line  of  tombs,  through 
which  they  passed.  The  towers  and  inscriptions  over 
the  gates  had  been  torn  down,  and  their  bronze  portals 
carried  off  in  the  plunder  train  of  the  barbarian.  The 
rock-built  walls  of  Rome  lay  low;  and  the  tramp  of 
their  war-horses  was  muffled  by  the  grass,  as  Belisar- 
iiis  and  his  troops  rode  under  a  succession  of  disman- 
tled arches,  down  towards  the  forum,  alongthe  "Sa- 
cred Way." 

The  fox  looked  out  from  the  casements  of  the 
Palatine,  and  barked  sharply  at  the  intruders  as  they 
rode  on;  wolves  prowled  through  the  vacant  streets, 
or  littered  in  the  palace  halls;  wild  dogs  hunted  in 
packs,  through  the  great  circus,  through  the  baths, 
along  the  Campus  Martins  and  on  to  the  gardens  of 
Sallust  and  Maecenas,  through  the  promenades  of  the 
Suburra.  Wild  beasts  as  if  escaped  from  the  menag- 
eries and  keeps  of  the  amphitheatres — lay  sleeping  and 
enjoying  themselves  in  the  sunshine  of  the  porticoes, 
or  tore  one  another  to  pieces,  as  the  factions  had  done 
of  old,  around  the  rostrum  and  in  the  assembly-place 
of  the  people;  others  growled  and  snarled,  and  gloated 
over  the  unburied  carcasses  and  whitening  skeletons  of 
the  dead.  Ravens  and  vultures  desisted  from  feeding 
their  sanguinary  nestlings,  to  hoot  the  warriors,  as 
they  wound  slowly  among  the  prostrate  columns   and 


TOT/ LA  DESTROYS  ROME.  347 

entablatures  of  temples  that  encumbered  the  ascent  ta 
the  capitol,  or  starting  from  their  perching-places  on 
trophy  and  triumphal  arch,  hovered,  and  flapped  their 
sable  wings  above  the  plumage  of  their  helmets. 
Once  more,  the  Roman  eagle  soars  above  the  Tarpeian 
tower — that  eyry  whence  for  a  thousand  years,  it  had 
flown  forth  to  carnage;  and  the  martial  bngle  makes 
the  field  of  Mars  resound  again.  But  instead  of  the 
war-like  response  of  legions — clamoring  to  be  led 
against  the  Samnite  or  the  Parthian — there  broke  forth 
a  hideous  melody  of  yells  and  howling,  yelp,  bark, 
and  roar,  outtopped  by  the  shrill  cries  of  ill  omened 
birds,  startled  from  their  roosts  in  the  sanctuary 
recesses,  and  from  the  niches  and  cornices  of  the 
senate-house.  The  warriors  listened  for  some  human 
sound.  In  vain  they  listened,  and  listened  again! 
There  was  the  Palatine,  the  Forum,  the  Capitol,  the 
Campus  Martins,  and  the  Tiber  flowing  under  the 
beauteous  summer,  beneath  the  Tarpeian  cliff — bat 
the  legions,  the  emperors,  the  senate,  and  the  Roman 
people,  where  were  they  ? 

"When  that  savage  uproar  had  at  last  sul>sided, 
save  a  casual  outbreak  of  a  howl  among  the  ruins,  and 
along  the  valleys,  and  the  river  banks,  all,  within  the 
boundaries  of  the  Seven  TTilU  w  i^  avain  silm!  .is  ihe 
grave. 

Never  had  mortal  eye  bchcKl  a  cat.i-slrophc  more 
impressive.  Fortune  had  turned  back  njx>n  her  steps. 
and  made  it  her  sport  to  reverse  everything,  npon  that 
very  scene,  where,  beyond  alt  otheis,  men  had  become 
elated  with,  imagining,  that  .she  had  at  length 
descended  from  her  slippery  glol)e  for  ever,  and  6xcd 
her  perpetual  sojourn.     Hut  it  would  sieem  as  If  she 


348  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY, 

had  lured  the  Romans  to  the  highest  pinnacle  of 
grandeur  and  felicity,  only  to  render  their  downfall 
the  more  tremendous,  had  helped  them  to  build  up 
testimonials  of  boundless  empire,  and  to  stamp  a 
character  of  eternity  upon  their  works,  merely  that 
the  vouchers  of  her  own  stability  might  endure  for 
ever. 

'After  being  deified  by  the  prostrate  earth,  and 
having  temples,  and  priests,  and  altars,  consecrated  for 
their  worship,  the  pagan  emperors  of  Rome  were  led 
about  as  harlequins,  to  grace  the  triumph  and  contrib- 
ute mirth  to  the  counsels  of  the  Goths.  The  iron 
legions,  that  had  trodden  down  the  nations,  had  been 
trodden  down  in  turn.  The  slave  had  seen  his  tyrant 
lord  a  suppliant  at  his  feet  for  life;  at  his  gate  for 
bread;  to  escape  from  dignities  for  which  the  Gracchi, 
the  Scipios  and  the  Caesars  had  contended,  men  of  pa- 
trician lineage,  had  themselves  branded  and  ranked  as 
slaves.  To  be  a  Roman,  once  a  distinction  prouder 
than  that  of  royalty,  had  become  the  vilest  badge  of 
infamy.  The  lords  of  palaces  that  resembled  cities, 
and  of  estates  that  included  kingdoms  within  their  lim- 
its, saw  themselves  without  a  home  or  rood  of  land. 
To  the  very  weft  the  fates  had  unravelled  their  most 
gorgeous  tissue,  and  from  the  ruins  of  the  Palatine  and 
the  Capitol,  had  abandoned  the  fame  of  kings,  consuls, 
and  emperors,  to  the  scoffing  winds. 

Even  the  memorials  of  her  ancient  glories  served,  and 
that  not  a  little,  to  multiply  and  increase  the  calami- 
ties of  Rome.  The  sight  of  them  infuriated  the  barba- 
rians. They  made  it  a  sacred  duty  to  slaughter  the 
•craven  multitudes  they  found  loittrring  around,  and 
boasting  alliance  with  monuments,  intended  to  perpet- 


POPE  GREGORY  THE  GREAT.  S4» 

uate  the  memory  of  the  injuries  and  insults  inflicted  by 
their  sires  upon  humanity;  and  it  would  seem  as  if  so 
many  millions  had  been  gathered  into  one  place,  by 
allurements  of  largesses,  shows,  and  every  sensual  in- 
dulgence, that  the  scythe  of  the  destroyer  might  mow 
them  down  with  the  greater  facility  and  expedition. 
The  metropolis  of  the  nations  had  become  their  sepul- 
chre; and  the  soil  of  their  pampered  bodies  fattened  and 
almost  filled  up  the  valleys  of  the  Seven  hills." 

THE  PESTILENCE  AND  POPE  GREGORY. 

As  might  be  expected  the  lands  swept  by  the  Gothic 
hordes  suffered  dreadfully  long  after  the  death  of 
Totila.  "Between  the  years  566  and  569,  the  whole 
of  Italy,"  says  Muratori,  "was  afflicted  by  a  pestilence 
which  almost  seemed  to  reduce  the  country  to  a  desert. 
Such  was  the  mortality,  that  in  many  districts  nearly 
all  the  inhabitants  were  swept  away,  so  that  it  became 
almost  impossible  to  find  laborers  to  reap  the  har\'est, 
or  gather  in  the  vintage.  With  the  approach  of  win- 
ter," continues  the  annalist,  "the  sound  of  the  war 
trumpet  was  audible  day  and  night,  and  it  was  the 
impression  of  many  that  they  could  discern  the  sounds 
of  an  approaching  army.  These  were  but  preludes  of 
additional  woes  that  now  impended  over  Italy,  for 
Alboin,  king  of  the  Lombards,  burst  through  the 
passes  of  the  Julian  Alps  in  the  following  year;  and  at 
the  head  of  an  immense  army  of  rapacious  and  san- 
guinary barbarians  swept  with  irresistible  fury,  o\*er 
the  hapless  land,  to  devastate  by  fire  and  sword  what* 
ever  the  plague  had  spared.  These  ruthless  bands, 
composed  of  the  fiercest  and  most  warlike  adventurers 
from  a  variety  of  barbarous  nations,  either  Arisns  in 
religion,  or  still  addicted  to  the  most  ssvmge  pndicct 


350  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY. 

of  heathenism,  overran  the  country  with  such  rapidity, 
that  in  less  than  sev^en  years,  we  find  them  perma- 
nently established  not  only  in  the  rich  provinces  on 
which  they  have  impressed  their  name,  but  also  in 
Tuscany,  Spoleto,  and  Beneventum;  while  the  garri- 
sons of  the  Greek  emperors,  formidable  only  to  the 
exhausted  and  heart  broken  Italians,  beheld  from  the 
walls  of  Ravenna,  and  a  few  other  fortified  places,  the 
dwellings  of  their  subjects  in  flames,  and  the  people 
themselves  coupled  together  like  dogs,  and  dragged 
away  beyond  the  sea  into  slavery. 

"The  invaders,  who  spread  themselves  in  every  di- 
rection without  resistance,  were  to  be  tracked  by  the 
horrors  they  left  behind." 

"Behold,"  says  Pope  St.  Gregory,  writing  to  the 
Emperor  Maurice,  "everything  in  these  parts  is  given 
up  to  the  mercy  of  the  barbarians;  the  cities  are  de- 
stroyed, the  fortresses  dismantled,  the  open  country 
stripped  of  its  inhabitants  is  become  a  wilderness  for 
want  of  cultivation;  and  the  servants  of  Christ  are  the 
daily  victims  immolated  by  the  sanguinary  supersti- 
tion of  these  idolaters."  Their  fanaticism,  ef^pecially 
directed  against  the  sanctuaries,  the  clergy,  and  what- 
ever else  was  consecrated  to  Catholic  worship,  left  St. 
Gregory  to  mourn  over  many  a  ruined  church,  and  to 
complain  that  in  several  districts  there  was  not  left  a 
single  priest  even  to  baptize  the  newly-born  or  absolve 
the  dying  from  their  sins. 

It  was  the  destiny  of  Rome  to  be  as  pre-eminent  in 
the  disasters  of  Italy  as  she  had  been  in  its  triumphs. 
To  beleaguer,  plunder  and  make  desolate  the  queen 
of  empire,  had  been  the  grand  object  of  ambition,  a 
kind  of   inspired  mania,    that    every    invader,    from 


POPE  GREGORY  THE  GREAT,  S61 

Alaric,  who  found  it  an  aggregation  of  palaces,  baths, 
theatres,  and  temples,  down  to  Totila  who  left  it  "a 
marble  wilderness." 

*'The  lofty  tree,"  says  Gibbon,  "was  deprived  of  its 
leaves  and  branches,  and  the  sapless  trunk   was  left  to 
wither  on  the   ground.     The  ministers  of  command, 
and  the  messengers  of  victory,  no  longer  met  on   the 
Appian  or  Flaminian  Way;  and  the  hostile  approach 
of  the  Lombards  was  often  felt  and  continually  feared. 
The  Campagna  was  reduced  to  the  state  of  a  dreary 
wilderness;  in  which  the  land  was  barren;  the  water 
impure;  and  the  air  infectious.       Curiosity  and   ambi- 
tion  no  longer  attracted  the  nations  to  the  Capital  of 
the  world;  but  if  chance  or  necessity  directed  the  steps 
of  a  wandering  stranger,  he  contemplated  with  horror 
the  vacancy  and  solitude  of  the  city,   and  might  be 
tempted  to  ask  'Where  is  the  senate,  and   where  are 
the  people?'  " 

Such  was  the  condition  of  the  Eternal  City  when 
the  popes,  the  successors  of  the  fisherman,  were 
induced  not  by  ambition,  but  through  mercy,  to  take 
it  under  their  protection;  and  if  those  regions  along 
the  Tiber  which  had  been  the  theatre,  for  so  many  cen- 
turies, of  all  that  was  most  illustrious  and  important  in 
human  affairs,  have  not  reverted  to  a  state  of  altonginal 
wildness  and  solitude,  similar  to  that  in  which  they 
were  when  first  explored  by  the  shepherd  king. 
Iwander,  it  is  to  the  popes,  as  succesaors  of  Ihefiaher* 
man,  the  credit  must  be  given.  ''Like  Thebct.  or 
Babylon,  or  Carthage,*'  says  Gibbon,  '*the  name  of 
Rome  might  have  been  erased  from  the  earth,  if  the 
city  had  not  been  animated  by  a  vital  principle  that 
again  restored  her  to  honor  and  dominion." 


352  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY. 

One  could  scarcely  imagine  anything  more  wretched 
and  utterly  hopeless  than  the  condition  of  Rome  at  the 
time  that  St.  Gregory  was  compelled  by  the  united 
and  passionate  entreaties  both  of  clergy  and  people,  to 
abandon  the  cell  where  he  had  consecrated  his  life 
to  study,  austerity  and  prayer,  in  order  to  undertake 
the  labors  and  solicitudes  of  the  pontificate,  and  with 
them,  the  still  more  intolerable  burden  of  watching 
over  the  temporal  affairs  not  only  of  Rome,  but  of  all 
Italy.  A  pestilence  aided  by  the  stagnant  waters 
which  an  inundation  of  the  Tiber  had  left  behind  it, 
was  raging  at  the  time  of  his  accession,  and  such  was 
the  mortality,  that  according  to  the  testimony  of  an  eye- 
witness, no  less  than  eighty  persons  fell  dead  during  the 
procession  of  the  Litanies.  ''The  sword  has  reached 
the  very  soul,"  cried  out  Pope  Gregory. 

To  imagine,  however,  that  Pope  Gregory's  patriot- 
ism was  confined  to  the  outpouring  of  lamentations 
over  the  public  calamities,  would  be  to  misconceive  his 
history.  Notwithstanding  painful  bodily  infirmities, 
and  the  cares  and  duties  of  his  apostolic  office,  his 
pontificate  of  fourteen  years  was  signalized  by  exer- 
tions the  most  devoted  and  effective  for  his  country. 
During  that  period,  the  defence  and  administration, 
not  only  of  Rome,  but  of  Italy,  were  thrown  upon  his 
shoulders,  by  the  neglect  and  embarassments  of  the 
Greek  emperors,  so  absorbed  in  troubles  at  home,  and 
in  struggles  against  the  Avars  and  Persians,  as  to  be 
utterly  incapable  of  affording  any  protection  or  assist- 
ance to  their  Italian  subjects.  It  is  to  no  purpose  that 
the  pontiff  prays  for  succour  against  the  public  enemy. 
His  remonstrances  both  by  letter  and  through  his 
nuncios    at  Constantinople     are    equally   ineffectual. 


POPE  GREGORY  THE  GREAT  S5S 

The  emperor  Mauritius  never  interferes  unless  to  re- 
quite the  sacrifices  of  the  pontiff  with  reproach  and 
invective,  or  to  frustrate  his  plans  for  the  public 
safety. 

Gibbon  who  is  justly  recognized  as  an  implacable 
and  accomplished  enemy  of  the  popes,  pays  the  follow- 
ing tribute  to  Pope  Gregory:  — 

"The  misfortunes  of  Rome,  involved  the  apostolic 
pastor  in  the  business  of  peace  and  war;  he  sends  gov- 
ernors to  the  towns  and  cities;  issues  orders  to  the  gen- 
erals; relieves  the  public  distress;  treats  of  peace  and 
of  the  ransom  of  captives  with  the  enemy.  What 
wonder  if  in  discharging  these  offices,  in  conjunction 
with  those  of  his  supreme  vicariate  over  the  church, 
the  dignities  of  prince  and  pontiff  should  seem  to  be 
united  in  his  person. 

*'The  church  of  Rome,"  Gibbon  continues,  "as  has 
been  formerly  observed,  was  endowed  with  ample  pos- 
sessions in  Italy,  Sicily  and  the  most  distant  provinces; 
and  her  agents  who  were  freciuently  sub-deacons,  had 
acquired  a  civil  and  even  criminal  jurisdiction  over 
their  tenants  and  husbandmen.  The  successor  of  St. 
Peter  administered  his  patrimony  with  the  temper  of  a 
vigilant  and  moderate  landlord;  and  the  epistles  of 
Gregory  are  filled  with  salutary  instructions  to  abstain 
from  doubtful  and  vexatious  law  suits;  to  preserve  the 
integrity  of  weights  and  measures;  to  grant  every 
reasonable  delay,  and  to  reduce  the  capitation  of  the 
slaves  and  the  glebe.  The  rent  on  the  produce  of 
these  estates  was  transported  to  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber, 
at  the  risk  and  expense  of  the  pope;  in  the  tise  of 
wealth  he  acted  like  a  faithful  steward  of  the  church 
and  of  the  poor,  and  liberady  applietl  to  their  wania  the 


354  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY, 

inexhaustible  resources  of  abstinence  and  order.  The 
voluminous  accounts  of  his  receipts  and  disbursements 
were  kept  above  three  hundred  years  in  the  Lateran  as 
a  model  of  Christian  economy. 

'*The  instant  distress  of  the  sick  and  helpless,  of 
strangers  and  pilgrims,  were  relieved  by  the  bounty 
of  each  day  and  of  every  hour;  nor  would  the  pontiff 
indulge  himself  in  a  frugal  repast  till  he  had  sent  the 
dishes  from  his  own  table,  to  some  objects  deserving  of 
his  compassion.  The  misery  of  the  times  had  reduced 
the  nobles  and  matrons  of  Rome  to  accept  without  a 
blush,  the  benevolence  of  the  church;  three  thousand 
virgins  received  their  food  and  raiment  from  the  hand 
of  their  benefactor,  and  many  bishops  of  Italy  escaped 
from  the  barbarians  to  the  threshold  of.  the  Vatican. 
Gregory  might  justly  be  styled  the  father  of  his  coun- 
try and  such  was  the  extreme  sensibility  of  his  con- 
science, that  for  the  death  of  a  beggar  who  had  perished 
in  the  streets,  he  interdicted  himself  for  several  days 
from  the  exercise  of  sacerdotal  functions. 

'^Gregory  awakened  the  Emperor  Mauritius;  ex- 
posed the  guilt  and  incapacity  of  the  exarch  and  his 
inferior  ministers;  complained  that  the  veterans  were 
withdrawn  from  Rome  for  the  defence  of  Spoleto;  en- 
couraged the  Italians  to  defend  their  cities  and  altars, 
and  condescended  in  the  crisis  of  danger,  to  name  the 
tribunes,  and  to  direct  the  operations  of  the  provincial 
troops. 

"If  we  may  credit  his  own  declarations,  it  would 
have  been  easy  for  Gregory  to  exterminate  the  Lom- 
bards by  their  domestic  factions,  without  leaving  a 
king,  a  duke,  or  a  count,  to  save  the  unfortunate 
nation  from  the  vengeance  of  their  foes.     As  a  Chris- 


I 


POPE  GREGORY  THE  GREAT.  Si6 

tian  bishop,  he  preferred  the  salutary  offices  of  peace; 
his  mediations  appeased  the  tumult  of  arms;  but  he 
was  too  conscious  of  the  arts  of  the  Greeks,  and  the 
passions  of  the  lyombards,  to  engage  his  sacred  prom- 
ise for  the  observance  of  the  truce.  .  Disappointed  in 
the  hope  of  a  general  and  lasting  treaty,  he  presumed 
to  save  his  country  without  the  consent  of  the  emperor 
or  the  exarch. 

*  'The  sword  of  the  enemy  was  suspended  over  Rome; 
it  was  averted  by  the  mild  eloquence,  and  seasonable 
gifts  of  the  pontiff,  who  commanded  the  respect  of  the 
heretics  and  barbarians.  The  merits  of  Gregory  were 
treated  by  the  Byzantine  Court  with  reproach  and  insult 
but  in  the  attachment  of  a  grateful  people,  he  found  ike 
purest  reward  of  a  citizen,  and  the  best  right  of  a  sovere- 
ign." 

Such  the  character  of  Pope  St.  Gregory  the  Great, 
by  Gibbon,  the  well  known  enemy  of  Christiaotty. 
Yet  this  was  the  pope  who  in  his  letters  subscribed 
himself  "Servant  of  the  servants  of  God/* — 
Servus  servoruvi  Dei,  a  practice  since  followed  by  the 
popes. 

POPE     GREGORY      SENDS     AUGUST?  V»-     TO 
CONVERT  ENGLAND. 
The  affecting  incident  that  first  inspired  St.  Gn^  : . 
the  Great  with   the  object  of  converting    iV 
Saxons,  has  been  often  told.     The  sight  of 
young  captives  about  to  l>c  sold  as  slaves,   aa  h^ 
one  day   passing   through   the   city   to  hia  cou.^m;. 
excited  his  liveliest  compassion.     He  enquired   from 
what  country  they  came,  and  on  being  told  they  were 
Angli,  he    said,   they   deserved   rather    to   lie  called 


356  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY. 

Angeli — that  is  to  be  named  not  Angles  but  Angels; 
and  from  that  moment  resolved  to  spend  his  life  in 
bringing  a  people  so  gifted  by  heaven  from  the  servi- 
tude of  idols  to  a  participation  in  the  dignity  and 
blessings  of  Christianity.  Although  he  was  at  this 
time  only  a  simple  monk,  his  extraordinary  virtues 
and  endowments  had  so  endeared  him  to  the  Romans, 
that  on  discovering  his  intention,  and  that  he  had  left 
his  convent,  they  pursued,  and  having  overtaken  him 
when  already  advanced  upon  his  journey  constrained 
him,  notwithstanding  all  his  efforts  and  entreaties  to 
the  contrary,  to  return  to  Rome  again.  But  though 
thwarted  thus  by  the  ardent  attachment  of  his  fellow- 
citizens,  and  effectually  debarred  by  his  after  elevation 
to  the  papacy,  from  the  prosecuting  holy  enter- 
prise in  person,  he  did  not  fail  to  confide  it  in  due  time 
to  some  of  the  most  zealoui  and  learned  of  his  monastic 
disciples.  Among  these  none  seemed  better  qualified 
than  Augustine,  prior  of  St.  Gregory's  Monastery, 
dedicated  to  St.  Andrew  in  Rome.  Him  therefore,  the 
pope  appointed  superior  of  this  mission,  allotting  to 
him  several  assistants  who  were  Roman  monks. 

On  reaching  the  Isle  of  Thanet,  Kent,  where  they 
first  landed,  the  missionaries  sent  to  apprise  King 
Ethelbert,  that  they  had  come  from  Rome,  and  were 
the  messengers  of  good  tidings,  tidings-  that  must  in- 
fallibly secure  the  eternal  joys  of  heaven,  and  a  crown 
of  never-ending  glory  to  those  who  receive  them  with 
docility.  After  some  days  delay  the  king  came  in 
person  to  the  island,  and  sent  to  inform  the  strangers 
that  he  was  ready  to  receive  their  embassy.  They  are 
described  by  the  venerable  Bede  as  forming  an  august 
procession,  as  they  advanced  with  the   cross,    and   an 


57:  AUGUSTINE  CONVERTS  ENGLAND.        S57 

image  of  the  Saviour,  embroidered  on  a  standard,  at 
their  head;  they  chanted  the  Litanies  in  alternate  choirs 
as  they  moved  along,  imploring  the  aid  of  Heaven 
upon  their  enterprise,  and  its  choicest  blessings  upon 
the  people  to  whom  they  came.  The  Kentish  mon- 
arch received  them  under  a  spreading  oak  and  after 
listening  attentively  to  St.  Augustine,  who,  as  chief 
of  the  apostolic  embassy,  announced  to  him  the  great 
message  of  salvation,  informed  them,  that  though  for 
the  present  he  was  not  inclined  to  abandon  the  deities 
of  his  country  and  his  sires,  he  permitted  them  to 
preach  their  doctrines  to  his  subjects.  With  anthems 
of  praise  and  supplicating  heaven  to  bless  the  country 
they  were  entering,  they  proceeded  in  the  same  order 
of  procession,  from  Thauet  to  Canterbury,  where 
Ethelbert  had  assigned  an  ancient  church  of  St.  Martin 
built  in  the  time  of  the  Romans,  for  their  abode. 
There  they  persevered  in  devout  exercises,  in  celebrat- 
ing  the  Divine  mysteries  with  great  solemnity,  in 
preaching  to  the  multitudes,  and  in  supplicatinf^  the 
Almighty  with  fasting  and  prayer  for  their  conveniion. 
These  labors  were  so  successful,  that  before  the  expira- 
tion of  twelve  months,  the  venerable  pontiff  who  had 
so  ardently  prayed  and  exerted  himself  for  the  Hnglt»h 
was  filled  with  joy  and  consolation  by  the  tidings,  thai 
King  Ethelbert  and  more  than  ten  thousand  of  his 
subjects  had  embraced  the  faith.  A.  D.  597. 

"When  the  Saxons,"  says  Dunham,  •'arrived  at  the 
luiglish  coast,  they  were  amongst  the  most  barbarous 
of  the  Germanic  tribes.  Unacquainted  with  the  list 
of  letters;  savage  in  their  habits;  ignorant  of  the  neces- 
sary arts  of  life,  and  despising  all  except  that  of  war; 
with  no  desires  except  such   as  in  their  gratiGcatioo 


358  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY, 

were   injurious   to   public  or     individual   prosperity; 
acknowledging  no  law  except  individual  will;  and  con- 
temning more  polished,  because   more   feeble   nations, 
they  were  barbarians  in  the  truest  sense  of  the  word. 
Nor  was  their  contact  with  the  Briton  likely  to  benefit 
them.     The  Britons  were  almost  as  rude  as  themselves; 
the  last  lingering  traces    of    Roman  civilization    were 
almost    faded   away    through    the   interminable    wars 
that  signalized  the  long  decline  of  the  empire;  and  even 
if  the  natives  had  been  qualified  to  instruct  their  vic- 
tors, an  hostile  spirit  would  forever  have  kept  the  two 
people  separate.     To  Christianity  the  Saxons  were  in- 
debted not  only  for  the  ornamental,  but  for  the  useful 
arts  of  life;   not  only    for    literature,  but    for   science. 
Without  the  instructions  of  the  missionaries,  and  that 
intercourse  that  followed  their  conversion,  they  would 
have  continued  to   live,   like    the  wild  beasts  of  the 
desert,  the  terror  of  their  local  habitations.       Histor- 
ians with  more  prejudice  than  information,  or  perhaps 
with  dishonesty  superior  to  both,   have  not    hesitated 
to  condemn   the  labors  and  views   of    the  Roman  mis- 
sionaries; have  deplored  the  subversion  of  the  ancient 
British  church,  and  regarded  the  arrival  of  the  stran- 
gers as  in    every    respect   portentous  of  evil    to  this 
island.     The  truth   however,    is,  that  to  the   Roman 
missionaries,  our  ancestors   were  indebted  for   every- 
thing that  improves  life,  for  their  hopes  of  immortality, 
for  their  greatness,  probably  for   their  existence   as  a 
nation.     The  effects  of  this  moral  revolution  were  in- 
deed vast,  but  sufficiently   explicable.     Hitherto,    the 
only  path  of  distinction  lay  in  war;   the   use  of  arms, 
therefore,  was  the  chief,    almost  the  only   branch    of 
education,  and  with  such  intensity  had  it  been  culti- 


THE  ANGLO-SAXONS.  SM 

vated  that  the  ''strife  of  spears,**  was  loved  c\'cn  for 
its  own  sake,  and  the  human  feelings  entirely  for- 
gotten. Hence  the  noblest  faculties  of  our  nature  had 
lain  dormant,  until  religion  called  them  forth.  She 
indicated  to  the  eye  of  ambition  other  fields  than  those 
of  blood,  other  enjoyments  than  that  of  tossing  the 
helpless  infant  on  the  point  of  the  lance.  By  her  pre- 
cepts, by  the  preaching  and  example  of  the  mission- 
aries, by  intercommunication  with  the  civilized  states 
of  France  and  Italy,  the  character  of  the  people  was 
soon  elevated;  not  only  religion  but  intellectual  knowl- 
edge began  to  be  esteemed;  in  the  cloister  all  that 
could  be  learned  at  that  period  was  prosecuted  with 
eager  study;  and  in  less  than  two  centuries  from  the 
arrival  of  St.  Augustine,  England  could  boast  of  a 
higher  degree  of  mental  culture,  than  any  other 
European  country." 

The  introduction  of  letters  and  of  schools  to  diflFuac 
the  first  rudiments  of  learning,. was  a  portion  of  the 
instructions  of  ,St.  Gregory  to  those  whom  he  sent  to 
found  the  gospel;  but  for  the  pre-eminence  to  which 
they  attained  in  literature  and  the  sciences,  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  were  mainly  indebted  to  Pope  Vitalian.  He 
selected  for  the  see  of  Canterbury,  and  for  the  Abbey 
of  St.  Peter's  in  the  same  city,  two  of  the  most  accom- 
plished scholars  of  the  age;  the  one.  Theodore,  a  native 
of  Tarsus,  in  Cilicia.  whom  he  appointed  arcbbisbop; 
the  other,  Abbot  Adrian,  by  birth,  an  African.  Both 
were  masters  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages,  and 
eminently  versed  in  the  circle  of  the  sciences,  as  Ibey 
were  then  known.  Kre  long  the  residence  of  Arch- 
bishop Theodore,  and  the  monastery  of  Abbot  Adrian. 
became  Normal  schools  for  all  the  kingdoms  ol  the 
Duttham,  Europe  Durimg  ikr  Middt4  Agt%. 


360  THE  SB  VENTH  CENTUR  Y. 

heptarchy.  The  fire  of  emulation  which  they  enkin- 
dled soon  illuminated  the  entire  land,  extending  its 
humanizing  influence  from  the  cloisters  to  the  fortress, 
castles  of  the  nobility,  and  to  the  courts  of  the  royal 
princes.  Even  the  Anglo-Saxon  ladies  became  in- 
flamed with  the  general  enthusiasm  for  letters;  and 
their  accomplishments  and  classic  taste  may  well  excite 
the  surprise,  if  not  the  envy,  of  their  fair  descendents 
of  the  present  age.  "They  conversed  with  their  absent 
friends,"  says  Dr.  Lingard,  "in  the  language  of  ancient 
Rome;  and  frequently  changed  the  labors  of  the  dis- 
taff and  the  needle  (in  which  they  excelled),  for  the 
more  pleasing  and  more  elegant  beauties  of  the  Latin 
poets. ' ' 

But  it  was  not  alone  for  mere  intellectual  advanta- 
ges and  enjoyment  that  the  English  were  indebted  to 
the  introduction  of  Christianity.  It  brought  in  its 
train,  all  those  humbler  arts  that  are  so  indispeUvSable 
to  the  well-being  of  society,  as  well  as  those  that  exalt 
and  embellish  the  human  character.  The  trades  of  the 
ironsmith,  the  joiner,  and  of  those  who  worked  in  the 
precious  metals,  were  held  in  such  high  repute  among 
the  monastic  orders,  that  it  was  considered  honorable 
for  the  highest  dignitaries,  not  only  to  patronize,  but 
occasionally  to  ennoble  them,  by  practicing  them  with 
their  own  hands.  In  the  female  communities,  the 
labors  of  the  distaff  and  the  loom  were  plied  with  well- 
regulated  assiduity;  and  in  needle  work  and  the  art  of 
embroidery,  the  nuns  of  those  ages  attained  a  skill 
that  has  left  the  specimens  of  their  works  that  have 
survived,  unrivalled  for  elegance,  even  at  the  present  day , 

But  it  was  the  superior  knowledge  and  persevering 
industry   of   the   monks,    as   agriculturists,  that   con- 


THE  ANGLO-SAXONS.  961 

tributed  more  than  everything  else  to  beautify  the 
aspect  of  the  whole  country,  and  to  enrich  the  popula- 
tion with  an  abundance  of  those  substantial  comforts, 
to  which  they  had  been  almost  total  strangers.  Some 
of  the  fairest  and  most  fertile  tracts  of  England  were 
originally  re-claimed  from  the  desert  and  the  morass 
by  the  self  devotedness  of  the  Benedictine  Monks. 
Through  a  spirit  of  mortification  and  a  love  of  soli- 
tude, they  usually  preferred  the  most  desolate  and 
sequestered  districts,  and  such  as  seemed  to  hold  out 
the  least  hope  of  a  return  for  the  expenditure  of 
fatigue.  But,  laboring  as  they  did,  through  a  spirit 
of  penance  and  divine  charity,  they  speedily  effected 
what  to  the  theowas,  or  slave-laborers,  of  the  lay  pro- 
prietors, must  have  ever  remained  impossibilities;  and 
in  addition  to  the  spontaneous  enthusiasm  with  which 
as  servants  of  Christ  and  of  his  needy  members  they 
applied  themselves  to  toil,  the  monastic  orders  pos- 
sessed immense  advantages  in  those  agricultural  tradi- 
tions of  the  ancient  Romans,  that  were  cherished  in 
the  rural  fraternities  of  St.  Benedict,  long  after  they 
had  been  forgotten,  and  lost  everywhere  else.  They 
cleared  the  forests,  drained  the  fenny  regions,  con- 
structed roads  and  embankments,  crecteti  uiiIIh  and 
bridges,  and  never  hesitated  to  attempt  whatever  im- 
provement was  not  impossible  for  the  most  devoted 
industry  to  accomplish.  The  least  favored  regions  of 
the  island  became  the  scenes  of  smiling  plenty;  the 
verdant  meadow  and  rich  pasture  lands,  extended 
where  the  stagnant  waters  of  the  marsh  nsed  before 
to  engender  pestilence;  and  fragrant  herbsfteand  many 
tinted  flowers  seemed  to  spring  up  and  flourish,  where- 
ever  religion  passed  through  fb-  l»t».l  uthui  hir  errand 
of  benediction. 


362  THE  SEVENTH  CENTURY, 

The  coast  of  Norlhumbria  was  cultivated  by  the 
monks  of  Coldingham,  I^indisfarne,  Bambrough,  Tin- 
mouth,  Jarrow,  Weremouth,  Hartpool,  and  Whitby: 
the  marshes  of  the  Gervii  were  drained  and  improved 
by  the  monks  of  Croyland,  Thorney,  Ely,  Ramsey  and 
Medhamstead.  This  fenny  region,  the  theatre  of  mon- 
astic industry,  extended  the  space  of  sixty-eight  miles, 
from  the  borders  of  Suffolk  to  Wainfleet  in  Ivincoln- 
shire.  After  the  lapse  of  so  many  centuries,  there  is 
reason  to  fear,  that  a  very  considerable  part  of  it  will 
be  again  lost  to  cultivation  by  repeated  inundations. 

In  architecture  as  in  letters,  the  first  impulse  was 
given  by  St.  Augustin  and  his  companions,  who  sub- 
stituted a  rough  but  solid  masonry  for  the  walls  of 
mud  or  timber,  the  only  materials  used  before  that 
time  by  the  Angles  even  in  their  temples;  but  still  there 
was  no  very  great  advance  until  the  Saxon  pilgrims, 
in  their  frequent  visits  to  the  tombs  of  the  Apostles, 
had  become  impressed  with  the  miserable  inferiority  of 
their  own  churches,  whose  whitewashed  walls  and 
windows  without  glass,  had  before  excited  their  admi- 
ration. St.  Wdfrid  and  St.  Bennet  Biscop,  the  great 
improvers  af  Saxon  architecture,  made  several  pil- 
grimages to  Rome,  (the  former,  three  or  four;  the  lat- 
ter, no  less  than  five,)  and  never  did  they  return^ 
without  a  rich  importation  of  manuscripts,  chalices, 
various  utensils,  vestments,  and  ornaments  for  the 
altar;  besides  statubes  and  pictures  to  adorn  the  tem- 
ples, which  their  opservation  of  the  Roman  and  conti- 
nental structures  had  enabled  them  to  erect.  In  these 
new  structures,  they  exhibited  to  their  admiring  coun- 
try-men all  the  wonders  of  cut  stone  walls  and  towers, 
lead  roofs,  and  glass  windows  with  other  astonishing 


THE  ANGLO-SAXONS.  SSt 

improvements,  "juxta  Romanorum  morem."  And  it 
may  well  be  imagined,  that  not  the  least  attractive  of 
these  novelties  werethe  creation  of  the  Italian  or  Grecian 
pencil.  With  these  they  adorned  the  sacred  edifices, 
"that  all  who  entered  them,  even  the  illiterate."  lo  ose 
St.  Bennet's  own  expression,  "might  be  led  to  salutary 
reflections  by  the  sight  of  their  Saviour's  image  and 
those  of  His  saints,  by  the  scene  of  the  Nativity,  of  the 
lyast  Judgment,  or  by  the  other  sacred  subjects  which 
meet  their  gaze  to  whatsoever  side  they  turn." 

"The  interior  of  these  edifices,"  says  Dr.  Lnigprd, 
"exhibited  an  equal  spirit  of  improvement,  and  a 
superior  display  of  magnificence.  Of  the  spoils  that 
their  barbarous  ancestors  had  wrested  from  a  more 
polished  people,  a  considerable  portion  was  now 
dedicated  to  the  service  of  the  Dtity;  and  the  plale 
and  jewels,  which  their  piety  poured  into  the  treasuries 
of  the  principal  churches  are  represented  of  such  value. 
that  it  is  with  reluctance  we  assent  to  the  testimony 
of  contemporary  and  faithful  historians.  From  them 
we  learn  that  on  the  more  solemn  festivals  the  Micred 
vessels  used  were  either  of  gold  or  silver;  thai  the 
altars  sparkled  with  jewels  and  ornaments  of  the 
precious  metals;  that  the  vestments  of  the  priests  were 
of  silk,  and  that  the  walls  were  hung  with  foreign 
paintings  and  the  richest  tapestries."  In  the  Church 
of  York  stood  two  altars  entirely  covered  wllh  plates 
of  gold  and  silver:  one  of  them  was  also  ornameiitcd 
with  a  profusion  of  gems,  and  supported  a  loCly 
crucifix  of  e(iual  value.  Above  were  suspended  thfte 
ranges  of  lamps  in  a  pharos  of  large  dimensioos. 
Even  the  books  employed  in  the  oflSces  of  rellgioo 
were  decorated  with  similar  magnificence.     St.  Wilfrid 


364  THE  SE  VENTH  CENTUR  V. 

ordered  the  four  gospels  to  be  written  on  a  purple 
ground  with  letters  of  gold,  in  which  were  encased  a 
number  of  precious  stones. 

Nor  were  the  Anglo-Saxons  content  to  sit  down  and 
enjoy  themselves  amidst  so  many  spiritual  and  tem- 
poral advantages.  The  Divine  spirit  of  Christianity 
had  flowed  in  upon  their  hearts  from  too  pure  a 
fountain,  and  had  penetrated  too  deeply  not  too  give 
birth,  in  due  season,  to  a  kindred  zeal  to  communicate 
the  hopes  of  salvation,  and  the  happiness  of  loving 
and  serving  their  Redeemer,  to  their  fellow  creatures, 
still  aliens  from  the  Gospel. 

No  sooner  were  the  Anglo-Saxons  well  initiated  in 
Christianity  than  they  became  inspired  with  zeal  for 
the  foreign  missions.  The  North  of  Germany,  inhab- 
ited by  kindred  tribes,  presented  an  ample  field  to 
their  exertions;  the  merit  of  rescuing  those  tribes  from 
idolatry  and  barbarism  inflamed  their  ardor;  and  with 
such  intrepidity  and  perseverance  did  they  devote  their 
abilities,  fortunes,  and  lives  to  the  pious  enterprise, 
that  they  succeeded,  under  the  auspices  of  successive 
pontiffs,  not  only  in  diffusing  the  light  of  the  Gospel 
over  the  vast  regions  of  ancient  Germany,  but  in 
transplanting  among  the  most  savage  tribes  the  litera- 
ture, sciences,  and  arts,  that  we  have  seen  them 
deriving  from  the  missionaries  of  Rome. 

The  first  to  lead  his  countrymen  into  this,  as  into 
every  other  great  and  holy  enterprise,  was  St.  Wilfrid, 
whose  preaching  converted  great  numbers  of  the 
Frisians.  However,  as  it  was  only  during  his  first 
exile  from  the  See  of  York,  and  when  on  his  way  to 
prosecute  the  appeal  for  his  restoration,  before  the 
Pope,  that  he  labored  in  this  field,  his  preaching  must 


THE  ANGLO-SAXONS.  86^ 

be  ascribed  rather  to  fortunate  accident  than  to  any 
systematic  plan.  The  merit  of  establishing  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  on  a  permanent  and  orderly  footing  must  be 
allotted  to  Egbert,  a  native  of  Northumbria.  Like 
multitudes  of  other  noble  youths  in  England,  having 
resorted  to  Ireland  for  the  sake  of  study,  he  became  so 
attached  to  that  country  and  its  inhabitants,  that  be 
gladly  relinquished  all  idea  of  ever  returning  to  his 
own  turbulent  and  distracted  home.  His  application 
was  unwearied.  He  soon  became  celebrated  as  a  great 
master,  and  saw  himself  surrounded  by  several  of  his 
youthful  compatriots  as  devoted  to  learning  and  piety 
as  himself.  It  was  then,  he  first  conceived  the  design 
of  diffusing  the  light  of  the  gospel  through  the  Xorth 
of  Germany,  and  w4th  this  view  selected  for  his  asiQ- 
ciates  the  most  learned  and  zealous  of  his  hearers. 
Circumstances,  however,  prevented  him  from  embark- 
ing  personally  in  the  holy  enterprise;  but  his  disciples 
labored  with  great  success,  not  only  among  the  Frisians, 
but  among  the  neighboring  tribes,  as  far  as  Denmark, 
under  the  direction  of  St.  Willibrord.  who  was  conse- 
crated by  Pope  Sergius.  and  directed  to  fix  his 
metropolitan  see  at  Utrecht. 

Of  the  Anglo-Saxons  associated  to  Si.  Willibrord, 
the  names  of  several  are  renowned  in  hi.ntory.  The 
Boructuarii,  who  inhabited  the  presegt  Duchy  of  Berg, 
and  the  country  of  Mark,  were  evangelized  by  Si. 
Swidbert;  and  when  driven  thence  by  a  furious  irmp- 
tion  of  the  pagan  Saxons,  he  retired  to  ihe  island  of 
Keisserswerdt,  on  which  he  built  a  monastery,  and 
whence  he  occasionally  made  excursions  to  inslmct 
the  remaining  inhabitants.  Adelbert,  a  prince  of  die 
royal  race  of  Northumbria,  chose  the  North  of  HoUsiid 


366  THE  SE  VENTH  CENTUR  Y, 

for  the  exercise  of  his  zeal;  the  pagans  listened  with 
■docility  to  his  instructions;  and  his  memory  was  long 
held  in  veneration  by  the  inhabitants  of  Egmond,  the 
place  of  his  residence  and  death.  Two  other  disciples 
of  Egbert,  brothers,  of  the  name  of  Ewald,  proceeded 
to  the  territories  of  the  old  Saxons,  but  were  martyred 
by  that  most  cruel  and  incorrigible  of  the  Germanic 
tribes.  By  Pepin  of  Heristal,  their  bodies  were  hon- 
ored with  a  magnificent  funeral  at  Cologne;  by  the 
Anglo-Saxon  church  their  names  were  immediately 
enrolled  in  the  martyrology,  A.  D.  692.  The  Batavi, 
who  dwelt  on  the  island  formed  by  the  Rhine  and  the 
Wahal,  owed  their  conversion  to  the  instructions  of 
Werenfrid.  Wiro,  Plechelm  and  Otger,  devoted  them- 
selves to  the  inhabitants  of  Gueldres.  Their  principal 
residence  was  in  the  neighborhood  of  Ruremond. 

But  of  these  Christian  adventurers  the  most  eminent 
for  the  extent  of  his  conquests  and  the  important  com- 
missions with  which  he  was  intrusted  by  the  Holy  See, 
was  Winfrid,  born  at  Crediton,  in  Devonshire,  but 
better  known  by  the  name  of  Boniface,  given  him  by 
Pope  Gregory  2nd,  when,  on  his  second  visit  to  Rome, 
he  consecrated  him  bishop,  that  he  might  the  better 
prosecute  his  apostolic  labors,  already  crowned  with 
extraordinary  success.  Three  times  he  visited  the 
tombs  of  the  apostles.  First,  when  with  several  of 
his  young  companions,  he  came  bearing  commendatory 
letters  from  his  diocesan,  to  supplicate  the  Supreme 
Pontiff,  to  be  sent  to  convert  the  pagans.  Secondly, 
when  the  fame  of  his  successes  in  Hesse,  Saxony,  and 
Thuringia,  caused  him  to  be  summoned  back  to  Rome 
to  receive  the  episcopal  consecration;  and  lastly,  when 
in  his  old  age,  and  covered  with  glory,  he  came  to  give 


THE  ANGLO-SAXONS,  mi 

an  account  of  his  mission  to  Pope  Gregory  3rd.  Again 
after  this  he  returned  to  his  apo^tolical  career  with 
redoubled  zeal,  not  only  to  extend  the  frontiers  of 
Christ's  kingdom,  but  as  legate  of  the  Pope,  to  rekin- 
dle zeal,  and  enforce  the  observance  of  canonical  dis- 
cipline in  its  most  ancient  provinces. 

The  first  care  of  the  missionary,  after  he  had  received 
the  episcopal  consecration,  was  to  increase  the  number 
of  his  associates.     In  a  circular  letter  addressed  to  the 
bishops  and  principal  abbots  of  England,  he  painted  in 
lively  colors  the  wants  of  the  missions,   and  exhorted 
his  countrymen  to  assist  him  in  liberating  the  scab  oi 
their  fellow-creatures  from  the  yoke  of  ignorance  and 
paganism.     His  exhortations  were  read  with  congenial 
sentiments  by  the  more  fervent  of  the  monks  and  cler- 
gy: the  merit  of  converting  the  infidels,  and  the  hope 
of  obtaining  the  crown  of  martyrdom,  taught   them  to 
despise  the  dangers  and   difficulties  of  the  enterprise, 
and  many  zealous  missionaries  crossed  the  sem,  and 
placed  themselves  at  the  disposal  of  the  new  apostle. 
No   motives  but  those  of  the  purest  zeal  could  have 
supported  them  under  the   numerous  privations  and 
dangers    to    which    they    were  continually  exposed- 
Bread,  indeed,  they  were  able  to  obtain  from  thegrati* 
tude  of  their  proselytes,  and  the  menaces  of  the  Franks 
protected  them  from  the  insults  of  the  vamiuinhcd  bar- 
barians who  refused  to  listen  to  their  doctrine,  but  for 
clothing  and  most  every  other  neccessar>\  ihey  were 
compelled  to  depend  on  the  casual  benevolciioe  of  their 
distant  friends.     The  fruits  of  their  labors  were  fre- 
quently destroyed,  and  their  lives  endangered  by  Ibe 
hostility  of  the  tribes,  that  still   retained  the  religioo 
and  independence  of  their  fathere.     By  one  incttrsioo. 


368  THE  SE  VENTH  CENTUR  V. 

no  less  than  thirty  churches  were  levelled  with  the 
ground. 

The  next  object  of  the  archbishop  was  to  insure  a 
permanent  supply  of  missionaries.  With  this  view  he 
erected  several  monasteries,  and  exhorted  his  associates 
to  copy  his  example  in  their  different  districts.  His 
first  foundation  was  the  small  cell  of  Ordof;  this  was 
followed  by  the  larger  monasteries  of  Fritzler  and 
Amelburg;  and  to  them  succeeded  the  rich  and  magnif- 
icent abbey  of  Fulda.  An  extensive  forest,  known  by 
the  name  of  Buchow,  lay  in  the  midst  of  Franconia, 
Hesse,  Wetteravia,  and  Thuringia.  Through  it  ran 
the  river  Fuld,  on  the  banks  of  which,  Boniface  dis- 
covered a  spot,  adapted  in  his  opinion,  to  the  purposes 
of  a  monastic  life.  A  grant  of  the  place  was  readily 
obtained  from  the  piety  of  Carloman,  the  son  of  Pepin; 
Sturm,  his  beloved  desciple,  with  seven  associates 
cleared  the  wood,  and  erected  the  necessary  buildings; 
and  Boniface  himself  taught  them  the  strict  rule  of  St. 
Benedict.  The  abbey  placed  under  papal  protection  by 
its  founder,  continued  to  flourish  long  after  his  death. 
Within  the  space  of  a  few  years  it  contained  four  hun- 
dred monks,  and  continued  to  diffuse  the  light  of  liter- 
ature and  piety  over  the  surrounding  countries  long 
after,  not  only  Lindisfarne  and  Jarrow,  but  even  Can- 
terbury itself  had  been  made  desolate  by  the  ravages 
of  the  Danes. 

For  the  education  of  the  female  sex,  Boniface 
solicited  the  assistance  of  Tetta,  the  abbess  of  Win- 
burn;  and  Ivioba,  with  several  of  the  sisters,  devoted 
themselves  to  so  meritorious  a  work.  To  these  he 
afterwards  associated  several  other  English  ladies,  who 
were  animated  with  similar  views,  and  equally  desirous 
Lingard's  Anglo-Sax.  Antiq. 


THE  ANGLO-SAXONS,  S6» 

to  partake  in  the  merit  of  the  missionaries.  Lioba 
was  placed  in  the  convent  of  Bischofesheim,  on  the 
Tuber;  Tecla,  at  Chitzingen,  in  Franconia;  Walpurgc, 
Heidenheim,  near  the  Brentz,  and  Chunihild  and 
Chunitrude  were  sent,  the  former  to  Thurinj^n^*  a«d 
the  latter  into  Bavaria. 

As  Boniface  advanced  in  age,  he  found  himself 
unequal  to  the  administration  of  so  extensive  a  diocese. 
With  the  permission  of  the  pontiff,  and  the  consent 
of  Carloman,  he  established  four  episcopal  sees  at 
Erford,  Buraburg,  Aichstad,  and  Wurtzburg;  and 
intrusted  them  to  the  care  of  four  of  the  most  zealous 
among  his  associates,  Adelhard,  Wintan,  Willibald, 
and  Burchard. 

Not  was  it  alone  to  the  nations  converted  by  bis 
preaching  that  his  pastoral  solicitude  was  directed. 
In  quality  of  apostolic  legate,  he  visited  Bavaria,  and 
was  received  by  the  Duke  Odilo  with  respect  and 
kindness.  The  Bavarian  Church  was  then  governed 
by  Vvjilo,  a  prelate  ordained  for  that  mission  by  the 
sovereign  pontiff.  Boniface  judged  that  a  greater 
number  of  pastors  was  necessary  to  accelerate  the 
progress  of  the  gospel,  and  divided  the  country  into 
four  smaller  dioceses.  Vivilo  was  obliged  to  conttot 
himself  with  the  bishopric  of  Passau;  John,  an  Anglo* 
Saxon  was  ordained  for  that  of  Saltzburg;andCoibftld 
and  Erembert  were  placed  in  the  churches  of  RAti*bon 
and  Frezegen. 

Thus  it  was  that  the  Holy  See.  and  Chriateodom  at 
large,  were  nobly  requited  by  the  Anglo-Saxons  far 
the  blessing  of  conversion.  The  career  of  St.  Boni- 
face, one  of  the  most  glorius  and  devoted  legmlca  1^ 
whom  the  supreme  vicars  of  Christ  were  ever 


370  THE  SE  VENTH  CENTUR  V. 

was  ultimately  crowned  with  martyrdom;  but  there 
was  an  imperishable  vitality  in  his  works.  The  see  of 
Mentz  continued  to  be  illustrated  by  his  virtues  in  the 
person  of  his  favorite  disciple,  St.  I^ullus,  whom  he 
was  permitted,  as  an  extraordinary  favor,  to  appoint 
his  successor  before  departing  on  the  mission  to  Frisia 
where  he  met  his  death;  and  the  monks  o^  Fulda,  and 
the  other  monasteries  continued  for  centuries  after- 
wards, not  only  to  uphold  the  cause  of  learning  and 
discipline,  but  to  push  the  conquests  of  the  Gospel  not 
only  to  its  shores,  but  even  beyond  the  Baltic. 

Dunham  writes  of  him,  '*No  man  ever  exceeded 
Boniface  in  devotion  to  the  Court  of  Rome,  which  he 
certainly  regarded  as  the  abode  of  Christ's  Vicar  on 
earth,  and  to  which  the  church  universal  was  divinely 
subjected.  The  oath  which  he  took  of  fidelity  to  it, 
on  his  elevation  to  the  archbishopric  of  Mentz,  might 
have  been  dictated  by  Bellarmine  himself,  and  in  the 
councils  over  which  he  presided,  he  caused  the  d^ty 
of  receiving  the  Pallium  from  Rome,  and  the  propriety 
of  papal  intervention  in  the  internal  affairs  of  each 
diocese,  to  be  formerly  recognized." 

POPE  ST.  MARTIN  AND  THE  GREEK 
EMPEROR  CONSTANS. 
Saint  Martin  ist.  son  of  Fabriciup,  a  rich  and  noble 
personage  of  Todi,  a  town  in  the  States  of  the  Church, 
was  elected  Pope  on  the  5th.  of  July,  649,  and  conse- 
crated without  waiting  for  the  consent  of  the  emperor, 
who  afterwards  accused  him  of  taking  the  pontificate 
irregularly,  and  without  his  consent.  The  pope  him- 
self informs  us  in  a  letter  contained  in  Labbe's  Coun- 
cils, that  this  was  the  reason  why  he   was  persecuted. 


THE  POPE  AND  THE  EMPEROR,  J71 

Pope  Martin  convened  a  Council  that  met  in  the  Basil- 
ica of  St.  John  Lateran  on  the  5th.  of  October  649,  in 
which  Monothelism  was  condemned,  althongh  the 
emperor  Constans  had  decreed  severe  penalties  against 
all  refusing  to  subscribe  to  the  heretical  doctrine.  The 
decrees  of  the  Council  required  huppoit,  and  the 
Ivombard  kings  were  disposed  to  uphold  them;  they 
therefore  declared  for  Pope  Martin  against  the  emper- 
or. Constans  then  determined  to  punish  the  pope  by 
stratagem,  and  gave  orders  for  his  a>sassination.  Bat 
Martin  never  went  forth  except  attended  by  a  number 
of  the  clergy,  and  the  exarch  Olympias,  who  had  re- 
ceived the  order  to  execute  the  crime,  failed  to  execute 
it.  However,  being  eager  to  obey,  he  one  day  sent  to 
beg  that  the  pope  would  give  him  communion  in  the 
Church  of  St.  John  Lateran.  Con.slant  watch  fi*aa 
kept,  on  account  of  the  designs  against  the  Holy 
Father.  The  bishops  were  foremost  in  showing  semi 
and  eagerness  to  honor  and  serve  the  pontiff  No  »» ic 
supposed  that  Olympias,  clothed  in  the  great  digmu 
of  exarch,  would  thus  draw  the  pope  into  an  ambosh. 
and  dare  to  commit  a  sacrilege  in  the  church  il^lf. 
Nevertheless,  a.<  the  faithful  at  that  time  received  com- 
munion at  the  place  in  the  church  in  which  they  pray- 
ed, and  as  the  pontifif  carried  it  to  them,  as  at  the  pre*' 
ent  time  it  is  carried  only  to  the  pope  in  the  Rumao 
Ceremonial,  Olympias  was  to  be  apart,  surroandcd  bf 
his  guards,  and  his  personal  attendant  reidy  to  stab  lilt 
pontiff  at  the  moment  when  he  stooped  to  prooooBOt 
the  words  of  communion.  The  pope,  attended  by  hit 
bishops,  advanced,  and  Olympias  lent  It  to  receive  Iht 
communion,  but  the  assassin  was  appalled  and  Mtrtia 
retired  unmolested.       Olympias   demanded  why  hb 


372  THE  SE  VENTH  CENTUR  V, 

attendant  had  not  killed  the  pope.  He  replied  that 
at  the  moment  the  communion  commenced,  he  seemed 
to  be  suddenly  stricken  with  blindness  and  in  his  agita- 
tion and  a  trembling  that  he  could  not  control,  it 
seemed  to  him  the  pope  disappeared. 

Olympias  who  already  had  begun  to  feel  some  re- 
morse for  the  crime  he  had  contemplated,  did  not 
punish  his  attendant,  but  on  the  following  day,  threw 
himself  at  the  pope's  feet,  confessed  the  horrible  pro- 
ject of  assassination,  confided  to  him  the  order  that 
had  been  sent  from  Constantinople,  promised  not  to 
execute  it,  and  solicited  his  pardon.  Martin,  much 
affected  raised  Olympias  from  the  ground,  embraced 
and  pardoned  him.  The  emperor  recalled  Olympias 
from  his  exarchate,  and  sent  him  to  Sicily  to  fight  the 
Mussulman  who  had  already  invaded  that  island. 

A  new  exarch,  Calliopas,  was  sent  into  Italy  with 
peremptory  orders  to  seize  Pope  Martin  by  force. 
Caliopas  arrived  in  Rome  at  the  head  of  a  large  body 
of  troops,  June  15th.  653. 

The  pontiff  though  well  aware  of  his  designs,  sent 
his  clergy  to  present  his  salutations  due  to  the  repre- 
sentative of  his  sovereign,  not  being  able  to  go  in  per- 
son, on  account  of  a  severe  and  protracted  illness. 
To  this  deputation  the  Greek  expressed  how  anxious 
he  was  to  present  his  personal  homage  to  the  holy 
father,  excusing  himself  on  the  score  of  fatigue,  from 
doing  so  until  the  next  Saturday.  This  however,  he 
failed  to  do,  fearing  that  the  concourse  of  people  would 
be  too  great  to  permit  the  execution  of  his  design.  But, 
on  Monday  he  sent  to  complain  to  the  pope,  that  mu- 
nitions of  war  had  been  provided  in  the  I^ateran  palace, 
as  if  to  ward  off  a  violence  to  which  their  was  not  the 


THE  POPE  AND  THE  EMPEROR,  S7S 

slightest  intention  of  resorting.  This,  however,  was 
only  a  pretense  to  gain  information;  and  as  soon  as  it 
was  ascertained  by  his  spies  that  no  preparation  for 
defence  had  been  made,  he  invested  the  palace  with 
his  squadrons  in  most  formidable  array.  Having  got 
admission  to  the  presence  of  the  pontiff  who  lay 
stretched  on  his  sick  bed  before  the  altar  of  the  Basil- 
ica, he  produced  an  imperial  mandate  to  the  clergy,  to 
proceed  to  a  new  election,  pretending  that  Martin  was 
to  be  looked  upon  as  deposed,  having,  he  said,  been  in- 
truded into  the  see.  The  clergy  and  domestics  were 
inclined  to  show  resistance,  but  the  Holy  Father,  who 
abhorred  every  species  of  violence,  and  had  rather  die 
ten  times  over,  than  be  the  cause  of  bloodshed,  forbade 
the  slightest  attempt  of  the  kind.  He  was  therefore 
carried  forth  amidst  the  cries  of  the  clergy,  who  re- 
peatedly exclaimed  "Be  he  anathema  who  shall  say  or 
believe  that  Pope  Martin  hath  changed  or  ever  will  be 
induced  to  alter  one  particle  of  the  faith,  or  that  he 
will  not  be  faithful  unto  death  in  the  orthodox  belief." 
Calliopas  had  his  victim  carried  on  board  a  small 
vessel  in  the  Tiber  on  the  19th  of  July,  and  conveyed 
in  the  first  instance,  to  Misenum,  thence  to  Calabria. 
After  casting  anchor  at  several  of  the  Greek  islands, 
during  a  voyage  of  three  months,  they  came  at  length 
to  Naxos  in  the  Archipelago,  where  there  was  a  delay 
of  several  months  more  It  would  be  difficult  lo  de- 
scribe the  sufferings  of  the  venerable  pontiff  during  all 
this  time.  Deprived  almost  of  the  common  necesaa- 
ries,  languishing  in  sickness,  and  confined  in  the  hold 
of  a  miserable  vessel,  from  which  he  was  not  permitted 
to  embark  even  once,  he  suffered  during  the  entire 
time  from  dysentery,  extreme  exhaustion  and  m- 
Labb€, 


374  THE  SE  VENTH  CENTUR  Y, 

sickness,  from  which  he  had  scarcely  an  interval  of 
respite.  The  clergy,  and  the  faithful  of  the  Greek 
islands  at  which  the  vessel  touched,  used  to  flock  from 
all  sides,  to  testify  their  homage  and  compassion;  but 
they  were  fiercely  repulsed  by  the  guards,  who  de- 
nounced as  an  enemy  to  the  emperor  whoever  was  a 
friend  to  Pope  Martin;  at  the  same  time  seizing  the 
gifts  and  presents  that  were  brought  for  the  holy  Con- 
fessor's use.  "Such  was  the  condition  to  which  this 
innocent  and  patient  sufferer  was  reduced,"  says  the 
historian,  "that  one  cannot  think  of  it  without  being 
excited  to  indignation,  both  against  the  despot  who 
ordered,  and  the  vile  minions  who  executed  such  out- 
rage upon  a  Roman  pontiff  so  venerated  by  the  entire 
church  of  God." 

From  the  authentic  narrative  of  the  sufferings  of  St. 
Martin  by  Labbe,  we  leain  that  he  was  conveyed  from 
the  isle  of  Naxos  to  Constantinople  on  the  17th  of 
September,  654.  He  was  immediately  cast  into  a  dun- 
geon, and  prevented  from  seeing  or  conversing  with 
any  one  whomsoever  for  three  months.  On  the  19th  of 
December,  he  was  submitted  to  examination  by  the 
chancellor  or  fiscal  of  the  imperial  court,  by  whom  a 
variety  of  false  accusations  were  brought  against  him. 
Perceiving  their  object,  the  intrepid  pontiff  conjured 
the  imperial  officers  to  do  with  him,  at  once,  what  he 
knew  they  were  bent  upon  effecting,  without  going 
through  the  mockery  of  a  trial;  and  thereby  procure 
for  him  a  great  recompense  in  heaven.  By  order  «f 
the  Emperor  he  was  then  carried  in  a  chair  (he  not 
being  able  to  walk,  or  so  much  as  stand)  into  an  outer 
piazza  where  there  was  an  immense  concourse  of  peo- 
ple.    There  the  pallium  and  other   pontificial   orna- 


THE  POPE  AND  THE  EMPEROR.  875 

ments  and  robes  were  taken  off  him  by  the  soldiers. 
so  that  he  remained  almost  stripped.  Then,  placing  a 
collar  of  iron  around  his  neck  he  was  dragged  from 
the  palace  through  the  entire  city  chained  to  the  jailer, 
or  executioner,  as  if  he  were  a  culprit,  going  to  execu- 
tion. Amidst  so  many  outrages  and  sufferings,  the 
venerable  martyr  never  lost  his  serenity,  and  the  great- 
er part  of  the  multitude  wept  aloud,  and  mourned 
over  such  a  spectacle  of  iniquity.  Dragged  back  to 
his  dungeon,  he  continued  to  be  treated  with  the  great- 
est barbarity,  exposed  to  every  hardship  and  privation. 
until,  at  length,  he  was  summoned  from  the  place  of 
his  exile  in  the  Chersonesus,  to  receive  the  immortal 
recompense  of  his  trials  for  the  faith. 

THE  EIGHTH  CENTURY. 

SOME    POPES   AND    SOME   KINGS  OF   PRANCR. 

•'The  truce  granted  to  the  cities  of  Italy  depending 
on  the  Greek  empire,  having  expired^  in  the  year  749, 
the  city  of  Perugia,"  says  Muratori,  "was immediately 
beleagured  by  Rachis,  the  Lombard  king;  he  likewbe 
threatened  to  let  loose  his  fury  upon  the  entire  extent 
of  the  Pentapolis.  These  disa.strous  tiding*  had  no 
sooner  reached  the  ears  of  Pope  Zachary.  who  had 
succeeded  to  Gregory  III  ,  than  with  a  number  of 
prelates  and  magnates  of  Rome,  he  hastened  to 
Perugia,  and  by  moving  entreaties  jig  mollified  the 
barbarian,  that  he  consented  to  raise  the  siege.  Nay 
more,  with  such  a  contempt  for  the  former  object*  of 
his  ambition,  and  with  such  profound  remorse  for  hb 
past  career  of  blood  and  rapacity  did  the  words  of  iht 
venerable  pontiff  inspire  him  that  he  determined  to 
become  a  monk.     Soon  after   he  resigned  the  crow©, 


376  THE  EIGHTH  CENTURY. 

came  to  Rome,  and  having  received  the  m'onk's  dress 
at  the  hands  of  the  Pope,  retired  to  the  monastery  of 
Monte  Cassino;  while  Tassia,  his  queen,  and  her  royal 
daughters,  became  nuns,  and  founded  the  convent  of 
Piombaruola.  Astolphus  who  obtained  the  throne 
thus  vacated,  happening  to  die  without  issue,  in  the 
year  766,  a  violent  contest  for  the  succession  arose 
amongst  several  pretenders.  The  scale  seemed  to 
incline  in  favor  of  Desiderius,  duke  of  either  Istria  or 
Tuscany,  until  to  his  great  alarm,  and  the  general 
surprise,  the  royal  monk  of  Monte  Cassino  declared 
his  wish  to  lay  aside  the  dress  of  the  monk,  and  again 
resume  the  'iron  crown.'  Then  it  was,"  continues 
Muratori,  "that  no  other  resource  was  left  to  Deside- 
rius, than  to  throw  himself  upon  the  successor  of  St. 
Zachary,  Pope  Stephen  II,  making  at  the  same  time 
unbounded  profession  of  his  willingness  and  anxiety 
to  see  regarded  as  inviolate  the  donation  of  King 
Pepin,  and  all  the  cities  and  territories  belonging  to  it, 
still  detained  by  the  Lombards,  restored.  Through 
the  influence  of  the  Pope,  the  royal  monk  was  dis- 
suaded from  violating  his  solemn  vows;  but  Desiderius 
as  soon  as  he  obtained  power  to  perform  his  promises, 
seemed  to  have  altogether  forgotten  them.  However, 
he  was  ever  ready  with  his  tribute  of  fair  words,  and 
plausible  excuses,  until  the  death  of  Pepin  appeared 
to  leave  the  patrimony  of  St.  Peter  without  protection. 
But  no  sooner  had  he  become  certain  of  the  death  of 
Pepin,  than  in  the  year  772,  he  broke  in  upon  the 
estates  of  the  church;  giving  up  to  sack,  slaughter 
and  conflagration  the  whole  country,  towns,  and  cities, 
castles  and  farm-houses  from  Sinigaglia,  on  the 
Adriatic,  on  by  Montefeltro,  Urbino,  Gubbio,  through 


THE  POPE'S  TEMPORAL  POWER,  m 

Roman  Tuscany  where  the  ashes  of  Bieda  were  extin- 
guished in  the  blood  of  its  people;  nor  was  the  career 
f)f  devastation  checked,  until  the  ravager  had  possessed 
himself  of  the  castle  of  Otricoli  within  sight  of  Rome. 
Nor  indeed  was  the  Lombard  overwise  either.  Hav- 
ing secured  the  plundered  provinces  by  strong  garrisons, 
he  returned  to  Pavia,  to  prepare  for  new  aggressions; 
and  in  the  opening  of  the  following  year,  Pope  Adrian 
I.  and  his  people  were  alarmed  at  the  intelligence  that 
he  was  moving  down  at  the  head  of  his  armies  upon 
Rome.  The  courageous  pontiff  hastened  to  provide 
against  the  coming  storm.  The  troops  were  called  in 
from  Campania,  Tuscany,  Perugia,  and  from  some  of 
the  towns  beyond  the  Apennines:  the  basilicas  of  St. 
Peter  and  St.  Paul  being  without  the  city  walls,  were 
divested  of  whatsoever  might  tempt  too  strongly  the 
delicacy  of  the  Lombard  conscience:  the  Vatican  was 
strongly  barricaded  from  within  by  bam  of  Iron. 
When  these  preparations  were  complete,  Bnatnutns, 
Andreas,  and  Theodosius,  bishops  of  Albano,  Pak*- 
trina  and  Tivoli,  were  sent  forward  to  meet  the 
invader,  with  the  intimation,  that  the  sentence  of  ex- 
communication would  be  fulminated  against  him,  if  he 
presumed  to  cross,  without  the  Pope's  consent,  the 
confines  of  the  Roman  duchy.  He  had  already 
arrived  at  Viterbo,  when  the  legate  met  him.  Thai 
embassy  had  the  desired  effect.  Desiderius  had  not 
the  hardihood  to  advance  farther  btit  retired  with 
great  reverence  and  in  confusion." 

There  arrived,  however,  in  Rome  .soon  after  ihi^  as 
ambassadors  from  King  Charles  (who  had  Micceedcd 
his  father,  Pepin  le-bref,  both  in  hisestatcn  and  in  the 
protectorate  of  the  church,)  a  bishop  named  Gregory; 


378  THE  EIGHTH  CENTURY. 

Gulford,  an  abbot;  and  Albinus,  a  nobleman  in  high 
favor  with  said  king.  Their  chief  errand  was  to  ascer- 
tain, if  the  lyombard  (as  he  had  stated  to  King; 
Charles.)  had  really  made  restitution  of  the  states  be- 
longing to  St.  Peter's,  of  which  he  had  so  long  retained 
the  unjust  possession.  They  soon  di-coveredhis  aver- 
ments, on  this  head,  to  be  utterly  without  foundation. 
However,  on  returning  to  France,  they  presented  them- 
selves at  the  Court  of  Pavia,  and  used  every  argument 
and  exhortation  to  persuade  the  usurper  to  do  justice; 
but  all  without  avail.  Even  after  their  return  a  new 
embassy  was  sent  into  lyombardy  by  Charles,  with 
offers  of  fourteen  thousand  pounds  of  gold,  as  an 
inducement  to  Desiderius  to  fulfill  what  he  had  bound 
himself  to  by  so  many  oaths  and  solemn  engagements, 
but  malice  blinded  him  to  the  ruin  he  was  bringing  on 
the  nation  and  on  himself.  It  was  now  evident,  that 
nothing  but  the  strong  arm  of  force  could  restrain  this- 
perfidious  prince  from  his  unjust  designs  against  Rome 
or  wrest  from  his  grasp  the  estates  of  St.  Peter's,  and 
of  the  poor.  King  Charles  accordingly  concentrated 
his  forces  in  Geneva;  resolved  to  pass  into  Italy;  and 
having  ascertained  that  Desiderius  had  taken  post  at 
Chnsi,  and  was  fortifying  the  passes  of  Mount  Cenis, 
he  hastened  to  cross  the  Alps  by  that  route  himself^ 
with  the  main  body,  directing  his  generals  to  lead  the 
rest  of  his  army  by  the  route  of  Monte  Giove.  But 
before  coming  to  hostilities,  he  tries  another  embassy, 
offering  to  be  content  with  a  renewal  of  former  stipula- 
tions, provided  three  hostages  were  given  for  their 
fulfillment.  The  result  of  the  encounter  that  ensued, 
on  this  final  rejection  of  every  proposal  of  peace  by 
Desiderius,  was,  that  the  Alpine  passes  were   carried^ 


THE  FOPE^S  TEMPORAL  POWER.  ra- 

the Lombards  routed,  and  the  incorrigible  aggressor 
cooped  up  within  his  capital. 

Desiderius  was  at  length  compelled  to  surrender  at 
discretion,  and  was  led  captive  from  Pavia  into  France. 
with  Ansa  his  queen.  According  to  some  writers  he 
was  placed  in  the  safe-keeping  of  Agilfred.  bishop  of 
Liege,  where  he  ended  his  days,  after  sincere  repent- 
ance; but,  if  we  may  credit  the  monk  of  St.  Gall,  it 
was  in  the  monastery  of  Corbie  he  was  confined;  there 
he  lived  for  some  years  and  died  in  peace.  In  Deside- 
rius the  turbulent  dynasty  of  the  Lombards  became 
extinct,  after  having  desolated  Italy,  and  held  the 
pontiffs  and  their  people  in  direful  alarm  and  affliction 
for  the  space  of  upwards  of  two  hundred  years 

It  was  pending  the  siege,  or  the  blockade  rather,  of 
Pavia,  commenced  probably  towards  the  autumn  of 
773)  that  Charles  paid  his  first  visit  to  Rome.  HU 
object  was  two  fold; — to  celebrate  the  great 
festival  of  Easter  in  the  holy  city,  and  to  confer  with 
Pope  Adrian,  for  whom  be  cherished  the  highc!»t  ven- 
eration and  friendship.  At  Novi.  thirty  miles  from 
the  city,  he  was  met  by  an  august  embassy  of  Roman 
senators,  sent  to  salute  him  on  the  part  of  his  Holine«i 
and  the  Roman  people;  all  the  military  forces  of  Ibe 
papal  states,  with  banners  flying  and  military  miiaic, 
advanced  as  far  as  the  third  mile  stone,  and  drew  up  in 
grand  array  to  receive  the  king  of  the  Franks;  while 
all  the  children  of  the  schools  even,  marched  in  pro- 
cession to  meet  him;  sinfi:ing  hymn?*,  and  bearing 
branches  of  olive  in  their  hands.  CIomt  Id  the  gates  be 
was  met  by  the  Roman  clergy  and  the  religioos orders. 
At  the  sight  of  the  cros.ses  and  sacred  gonhilons  befoce 
them,    the  king  dismounted.  walke<l    *viih  his  grttl 


380  THE  EIGHTH  CENTURY, 

officers  uncovered,  until  he  entered  the  great  atrium  of 
St.  Peter's.  There  arrived,  instead  of  mounting  on 
foot  the  flight  of  cteps  leading  to  the  platform  before 
the  vestibule,  where  the  Pope  with  his  court  and  a  vast 
concourse  of  the  Roman  people  expected  him,  he 
ascended  upon  bended  knees,  kissing  each  step  devout- 
ly as  he  advanced.  The  pontiff  embraced  the  royal 
hero  with  cordial  affection,  and  then  conducted  him 
by  the  hand,  amidst  canticles  and  hymns  of  jubilee 
and  triumph,  to  return  thanks  at  the  confession,  or 
shrine  of  St.  Peter.  On  the  Wednesday  of  Easter 
week,  he  confirmed  the  donation  of  his  father.  King 
Pepin,  and  deposited  the  diploma  or  deed  of  donation, 
upon  the  altar  of  the  apostle.  . 

It  is  on  this  occasion  that  Anastasius  gives  us  the 
enumeration  of  the  provinces  of  which  it  consisted. 
Ravenna,  Rimini,  Pesaro,  Fano,  Cesano,  Sinigaglia, 
Jesi,  Forlim  popoli,  Forli,  with  the  castle  of  Sussubio 
(at  present,  the  town  of  Bertinaro),  Montefeltro,  Acer- 
ragio,  Monte  de  Lucaro,  Serra,  Castel  di  San  Marino 
(most  probably  the  present  miniature  republic  of  San 
Marino),  Bobio  (not  that  of  lyiguria),  Urbino,  Cagli, 
Luceolo,  Gubbio,  Comacchio,  and  the  city  of  Narni. 
In  addition  to  these,  all  included  in  the  gift  of  Pepin, 
we  find  mention  of  the  provinces  of  Venezia,  Istria, 
the  dukedoms  of  Spoleto  and  Benevento,  Parma,  Reg- 
gio,  Mantua,  Monttfelice,  and  the  island  of  Corsica. 
We  learn  from  the  same  writer  that  some  of  those  of 
Spoleto  and  Rieti  came  to  Rome,  entreating  to  be  re- 
ceived into  the  dominions  of  the  pope,  rather  than  be 
subject  to  the  Lombards.  This  was  even  before  De- 
siderius  had  been  defeated,  and  put  to  flight  from  the 
Alps;  but  when  that  news  was  spread,  and  that   the 


CHARLEMAGNE,  381 

Spoletini,  who  had  served  under  him  had  returned 
home,  the  entire  dukedom  had  recourse  to  the  pope. 
with  an  humble  petition  to  be  taken  into  the  service 
of  St.  Peter's. 

King  Charles  paid  a  second  visit  to  Rome  in  781, 
when  his  son  Carloman,  so  called  after  his  uncle  had 
his  name  changed  to  Pepin,  and  was  crowned  king  of 
Italy  by  Pope  Adrian.  In  this  and  still  more  particu- 
larly in  a  third  visit,  787,  his  great  object  was  to 
secure  the  services  of  able  professors,  and  other  assist- 
ance towards  carrying  out  his  grand  project  for  the 
revival  of  letters  which  had  sunk  into  most  deplorable 
neglect  throughout  his  vast  dominions.  The  Lombard 
invasion,  to  crown  the  calamities  which  it  brought  00 
Italy,  had  destroyed  the  ancient  seats  of  learning,  and 
established  ignorance  everywhere  it  spread.  But  when 
Charlemange  had  succeeded  in  repelling  the  fresh  tor- 
rents of  invasion  from  the  South  and  North*Easl  and 
had  established  an  eifeclive  and  uniform  govenimeQt 
throughout  his  various  kingdoms,  he  set  about  the 
revival  of  learning.  Among  the  profe.ssors  of  the  var- 
rious  branches  of  learning  whom  he  brought  from 
Rome  was  the  celebrated  Alcuin  of  England,  who  hid 
come  to  Rome  on  behalf  of  his  venerable  patroo. 
Egbert,  archbishop  of  York,  to  procure  the  palliooi 
from  Pope  Adrian.  Alcuin  was  skilled  in  Greek  as  well 
as  in  Latin,  and  conversant  with  all  the  sciences  wUcb 
he  had  learned  under  Kgbert,  and  of  which  hegivesoft 
thfs  catalogue:  ' •Grammar,  rhetoric,  jurii 
poetry,  astronomy,  natural  history,  mathematics^  < 
nology,  and  the  explication  of  the  scriplarts."  Ire- 
land supplied  him  with  professors  for  the  ooiftllitlM 
of  Paris,  Pavia,  Bologna,  and  other  seats  of 


382  THE  EIGHTH  CENTURY, 

Pope  I^eo  the  3rd.  was  crowned  pope  in  795.  As 
years  rolled  on,  enemies  grew  up  thickly  around  him  so 
much  so  that  in  799  being  threatened  with  assassina- 
tion, he  set  out  to  implore  the  protection  of  Charle- 
magne. The  Emperor  was  at  Padreborn  with  his 
armies,  when  he  had  advice  that  Pope  Leo  was  on  his 
way  across  the  Alps  to  meet  him.  On  the  instant  the 
archbishop  of  Cologne  was  sent  forward  by  the  king, 
at  the  head  of  an  august  procession  of  prelates  and 
noble  paladins  to  bid  the  Holy  Father  welcome  and 
soon  after,  he  dismis*^ed  his  eldest  son  Pepin,  king  of 
Italy,  with  a  warlike  train  of  barons  and  valiant 
knights.  But  vast  multitudes  collecting  from  far  and 
near,  did  joyfully  hail  the  Pontiff  as  he  came  along — gaz- 
ing on  the  successor  of  the  blessed  Peter  with  vener- 
ation and  wonder.  Finally,  having  been  received  by 
King  Pepin,  he  was  led  by  the  royal  youth  to  where 
Charlemagne  himself  expected  him.  To  do  honor  to 
the  advent  of  a  guest  so  venerable,  the  king  had  drawn 
out,  and  marshalled,  all  his  armies,  and  when  the  holy 
pastor  came  in  view,  the  ranks  of  armed  men  fell  down 
upon  the  earth  to  pay  him  homage  and  implore  his 
blessing.  But  the  king  advancing  from  the  centre 
dismounted  from  his  horse,  and  having  first  prostrated 
himself  before  Christ's  Vicar,  and  then  embraced  him 
with  filial  affection,  they  went  hand  in  hand,  the  Pon- 
tiff and  King  Charles,  first  to  the  temple  of  the  Most 
High  to  return  thanks,  and  then  to  the  royal  palace. 
There  the  festivities  and  rejoicing  were  perpetual  dur- 
ing the  many  days  that  the  pontiff  tarried  with  the 
king. 

Meanwhile,  the  archbishops,  bishops,  abbots,  and 
clergy  from  the  surrounding   countries,    came   to  pay 


CHARLEMAGNE.  M 

liomage  to  the  apostolic  father,  and  to  receive  his  bene- 
•diction,  and  at  their  entreaties,  he  went  about  through 
many  provinces  consecrating  churches  and  altars.  In 
the  royal  palace  of  Aqnisgrana  (Aix-la-Chapelle)  he 
consecrated  a  chapel  to  Mary  ever  Virgin.  Next,  at 
the  humble  prayer  and  solicitation  of  the  venerable 
father  Gerbald,  bi.shop  of  Leodien,  he  consecrated 
churches  to  the  glorious  Virgin  Mary  both  in  Tungrae 
and  Visite,  and  in  Colonia  Agrippina,  he  consecrated 
altars  both  in  St.  Martin's  and  on  the  Capital;  and  in 
many  other  monasteries  he  consecrated  altars  and 
chapels  throughout  Gaul  and  Germany,  conferring 
many  indulgences  everywhere  he  went. 

In  fine  at  the  entreaty  of  the  aforesaid  glorious  king 
and  of  the  venerable  archbishop  of  Cologne,  the  smoie 
holy  pope  surrounded  by  cardinals  and  prelates,  and 
escorted  in  every  respect  wiih  regal  pomp,  set  sail 
along  the  Rhine  towards  Werda.  And  the  holy  broth- 
erhood of  St.  Swithbert's  convent,  with  the  inbalN- 
tants  of  the  town,  came  in  procession  to  meet  the  holy 
father  at  the  river-side,  and  thence  conducted  him, 
with  the  king  and  his  courtiers,  amidst  devout  canti- 
cles and  great  honors,  into  the  church  of  St.  Swilh- 
bert.  And  on  that  day  all  Werda.  as  well  as  t>»-  ••^n 
vent,  fasted  by  apostolical  authority. 

But  on  the  next  day,  which,  was  the  day  bc(ofc  the 
nones  of  September,  the  holy  pope  Leo,  Charles  the 
king,  and  the  others  assembled  in  the  charch  of  Si. 
Switbert.  The  divine  office  being  chanted  and  llaaa 
celebrated  with  all  solemnity  by  the  Archbiabop 
Hildebald,  the  '^Acts"  of  the  life  of  St.  Switbert  and 
his  many  miracles— as  narrated  by  his  fellow  country* 
man  and  companion,  the  venerable  prkal  Mafcellua — 


384  THE  EIGHTH  CENTURY. 

the  holy  pope  Leo,  with  the  assent  of  his  cardinals 
and  of  the  other  prelates  there  present,  solemnly 
inscribed  St.  Switbert  in  the  calendar  of  the  saints. 
Upon  this  the  convent  bells  rang  a  joyous  peal,  making 
a  delightful  harmony  for  many  hours  in  honor  of 
God,  thus  glorified  by  his  servant;  and  the  choirs  of 
holy  monks  with  humble  and  overflowing  hearts 
poured  forth  their  thanksgiving  to  heaven,  chanting 
the  hymn  Te  Deum  laudamus.  In  the  meantime, 
while  these  things  were  proceeding,  the  aforesaid 
Archbishop  Hildebald,  in  presence  of  the  most  holy 
apostolic  Leo,  devoutly  lifted  up  the  relics  of  the 
saint  from  the  grave  where  they  had  lain  buried;  and, 
as  he  did  so,  a  most  delicious  odour  diffused  itself 
around. 

There  were  present  on  the  occasion  of  the  canoniza- 
tion, the  victorious  Charles,  king  of  the  Franks;  the 
venerable  fathers,  Cardinal-Archbishops  Bernardus  of 
Ostia;  Fortunatus  of  Treveris;  Theodorus  of  Sabina; 
Nicholaus  of  the  title  of  the  Holy  Cross  of  Jerusalem; 
Eustochius  of  St.  Praxede;  and  Boniface  of  the  title  of 
SS.  Marcellinus  and  Peter; — cardinal  priests,  Gerbold 
of  Leodiensi;  Nolquin,  bishop  of  the  Normensians;  as 
also  many  other  prelates  and  dignitaries,  but,  more 
especially,  Felix  Hildebald,  archbishop  of  Cologne,  by 
whose  advising  and  at  whose  pious  instances,  the  holy 
Leo  had  enrolled  the  blessed  Switbert  amongst  the 
saints.  Moreover,  it  was  decreed  by  the  most  holy 
pope,  Leo,  that  the  anniversary  day  of  the  canoniza- 
tion should  be  kept  holy,  during  all  time,  by  the 
inhabitants  of  Werda,  in  honor  of  St.  Switbert.  His 
church  was  favored  with  special  indulgences  by  the 
same  holy  pope,  for  the  clergy  who  would  celebrate 
Anastasiiis.        Baronius. 


CHARLEMAGNE.  |8i 

there  on  the  festival  of  the  holy  bihhop  St.  Switbert, 
and  for  the  faithful  who  should  devoutly  assist  at  the 
holy  mysteries.  The  same  pope  also  made  an  ofTcring 
of  a  small  golden  cross,  in  which  was  inserted  a  parti- 
cle of  the  holy  cross  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Bal 
the  emperor  Charles  offertd  two  chalices  of  pure  gold, 
with  two  golden  cruets,  and  several  other  sacred  ves- 
sels for  the  aliar,  with  the  proviso,-  that  every  time  ihe 
divine  mysteries  were  celebrated  in  the  convent  of 
Werda,  memento  should  be  made  of  the  emperor. 
Others  also  made  offerings.  They  also  contributed 
according  to  their  means,  towards  a  canopy  and  shrine, 
in  which  might  be  placed  the  relics  of  St.  Switbert.  to 
the  praise  and  glory  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who 
liveth  and  reigneth  with  God  the  Father  in  the  unity 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  through  the  infinite  ages  of 
eternity. 

But  when  the  rumor  had  spread  abroad  that  the  holy 
pope  Leo,  and  Charles  the  most  serene  emperor,  and 
the  other  prelates  and  princes  were  coming  to  Werda 
to  canonize  St.  Switbert,  there  assembltd  ffon  all 
quarters  multitudes  of  both  sexes,  with  their  aooa  and 
daughters,  to  receive  the  apostolical  benediction  of  the 
holy  pope,  and  to  witness  the  grand  solemnity. 
Amongst  the  rest  was  a  certain  noble  lady,  Iningarda. 
a  matron,  honorable  and  respected,  the  aiater  of  arch* 
bishop  Hildebald.  and  wife  of  the  xmliant  Paladin 
Bertoldus  of  Grienberg,  at  that  time  residing  at  Troja, 
otherwise  called  Zantis.  This  noble  lady  having  ob- 
tained leave  from  her  husband  to  go  and  be  prtaeot  at 
the  festivai,  embarked  at  Xantis.  in  company  wHli 
many  other  gentle  folk,  to  sail  to  Werda,  taking  with 
her  only  two  domestics  and  her  first  bom  GoctUinus, 
An^siasius. 


386  THE  EIGHTH  CENTURY. 

a  little  boy  of  only  eight  years  and  six  months.  Now» 
as  they  were  drawing  near  to  Werda,  the  steersman, 
seeing  the  immense  crowd  of  boats  that  were  below 
him,  put  the  helm  about  suddenly,  in  order  to  get  to  a 
convenient  berth  near  the  shore,  and  in  so  doing,  the 
boat  in  which  was  Irringarda,  struck  another  boat,  and 
little  Gocellinus,  losing  his  feet  as  he  stood  at  the  prow 
beside  his  mother,  fell  over  into  the  Rhine  and  sank. 
His  mother,  who  had  been  thrown  down  by  the  collis- 
ion of  the  two  boats,  on  seeing  what  had  happened 
and  not  being  able  to  save  her  child,  tried  to  cast  her- 
self headlong  into  the  Rhine,  but  being  held  and  pre- 
vented by  her  two  attendants  and  other  kind  people, 
who  tore  away  the  long  veil  that  fell  gracefully  from 
her  head  over  her  person,  and  bathed  in  floods  of  tears 
on  account  of  intense  anguish,  the  disconsolate  Irrin- 
garda filled  the  shores  of  the  Rhine  with  her  cries  and 
lamentations.  This  happened  about  the  time  of  Ves- 
pers, or  the  fifth  hour  of  the  evening.  But  when  the 
archbishop  her  brother  heard  it,  he  vented  his  afflic- 
tion in  heavy  sighs,  being  exceedingly  grieved;  and 
sent  a  messenger  in  all  haste  to  Bertoldus  with  the  sad 
tidings  that  his  son  was  drowned.  But  the  lady 
Irringarda  clapping  her  hands  like  a  woman  out  of  her 
mind,  entered  into  St.  Switbert's  church  with  groans 
and  piteous  cries  imploring  God  to  take  pity  on  her, 
and  to  vouchsafe  through  the  merits  of  St.  Switbert, 
to  give  her  back  her  child.  In  the  long  run  being 
somewhat  soothed,  by  many  most  noble  and  compas- 
sionate matrons  who  gathered  round  her,  and  above  all 
by  the  archbishop  her  brother,  she  suffered  herself  to 
be  conducted  by  him  into  the  hospice,  where  they  en- 
deavoured to  refocilate  and  console  her  broken 
heart. 


GOCELLINUS  RESTORED  TO  LIFE.  887 

But  she  utterly  unable  to  rest,  passed  the  entire 
night  without  sleep,  assiduously  prayed  to  St.  Switbert 
with  a  devout  and  anguished  heart,  imploring  him 
not  to  forsake  in  her  distress  her  whom  he  had 
befriended  in  so  many  tribulations,  and  vowing  that 
if,  through  his  intercession,  her  Gocellinus  was  again 
restored  to  her  bosom,  she  would  devote  him  to  serve 
perpetually  in  God's  sanctuary. 

Next  day,  when  morning  beamed  forth,  with  re- 
splendent brightness,  certain  good  men.  at  the  en- 
treaty of  the  archbishop,  having  put  out  their  boats 
began  to  search  for  the  body  of  Master  Gocellinus  that 
had  sunk  in  the  Rhine.  This  they  did  with  drmwnets, 
and  iron  hooks,  and  other  suitable  instruments.  At 
last,  about  the  eighth  hour,  just  before  the  solemn 
Mass,  one  called  Lambert  Dohet  dc  Rubrica,  feeling 
his  hook  to  have  fastened  in  something  which  he  im- 
agined to  be  a  child's  clothes,  having  called  his  com- 
panions to  his  assistance,  they  with  great  skill  drew 
up  the  dead  body,  and  lifting  it  from  the  water,  gave 
it  to  the  heart-broken  mother.  She.  on  beholding  the 
dead  body  of  her  darling  child,  swooned  away,  ox-er- 
powered  by  the  sight;  and,  on  coming  to her^lf  again. 
she  took  the  body  in  her  armn.  and  being  followed  by 
many  illustrious  and  kind  hearted  persons  of  both 
sexes,  weeping  and  condoling  with  her.  she  laid  it 
down  before  the  shrine  of  St.  Switbert  and  all  having 
devoutly  joined  together  in  prayer,  life  returned  to 
the  boy.  He  opened  his  eyes  and  was  alive  again. 
and  on  getting  on  his  feet  he  began  to  wonder  at  the 
multitudes  and  throngs  of  people  who  were  all  gaaing 
at  him  with  astonishment,  and  immediately  taking  off 
his  dripping  garments,  at  the  suggestion  of  some  per* 


•388  THE  EIGHTH  CENTURY. 

son,  on  account  of  the  rush  and  pressure  of  the 
crowds,  they  placed  the  boy  standing  on  a  high  place, 
where  he  could  be  seen  by  all.  At  the  sight  thereof, 
there  burst  forth  a  shout,  in  loudness  like  to  thunder 
from  the  multitude,  praising  God  in  St.  Switbert,  on 
•account  of  the  great  and  manifest  mercy  which  he  had 
there  effected  before  all,  through  the  merits  of  his 
hoi)'  servant. 

In  the  same  hour,  Bertoldus  came  riding  at  full 
speed,  with  a  retinue  of  only  ten  horsemen,  although 
he  was  lieutenant  of  the  king  in  those  parts,  such  was 
his  distraction  and  disconsolate  sorrow  for  the  loss  of 
his  beloved  vson;  but  when  entering  into  the  church, 
he  beheld  him  restored  from  death  to  life,  he  glorified 
God  in  his  servant  Switbert.  Then  the  most  holy 
apostolic  lyco,  and  Charles  the  King,  apprised  of  these 
things  by  the  Archbishop  of  Cologne,  uncle  of  Gocelli- 
nus,  who  had  been  raised  from  the  dead,  commanded 
the  said  child  to  be  brought  and  placed  before  him; 
whom  when  they  beheld  now  living,  who  for  nearly 
fifteen  hours  had  been  under  the  waters  of  the  Rhine, 
they  praised  the  benignity  of  God,  who  ever,  by  various 
wonderful  interpositions,  magnifies  and  honors  his 
saints.  But  the  archbishop,  with  the  consent  of  his 
parents,  took  off  the  gold  bracelet  from  the  neck  of  the 
little  boy,  and  ordained  him  a  cleric,  (clipping  his 
hair)  and  changing  his  name,  called  him  Switbert, 
and  entering  the  monastery  of  his  gracious  patron,  the 
boy  (like  Samuel  in  the  temple)  served  him  always 
there  in  great  humility;  and  Count  Bertoldus,  through 
'love  of  St.  Switbert  and  his  son,  assigned  to  the  afore- 
said monastery  certain  lands  to  be  holden  by  it  in  per- 
petuity, 

Muratori,  Baronius. 


POPE  LEO  III  AND  CHARLEMAGNE.  389- 

At  length  after  having  tarried  many  days  with  the 
king,  visited  and  honored  by  the  prelates  of  all  those 
parts,  and  by  the  laity  of  all  ranks,  assembled  in  con- 
siderable numbers  from  adjacent  countries,  the  apos- 
tolic Leo  resolved  to  take  leave  of  Charlemagne  and 
his  court  (by  whom  he  was  loaded  with  sumptuous 
presents)  and  return  to  Rome. 

The  archbishop  of  Cologne,  and  Aaron,  archbishop^ 
of  Saltzburg  with  the  bishops,  Bernard  of  Worms, 
Atzone  of  Frisinga,  Jesse  of  Amiens,  and  Cunibert,  as 
also  the  Counts  Retigarius,  Germanus,  and  Elenget, 
were  sent  by  the  king  to  accompany  the  holy  pontifif, 
who  was  received  as  an  apostle  in  all  the  cities  througb 
which  he  passed.  Having  arrived  at  Rome,  on  the 
vigil  of  St.  Andrew's  festival,  all  the  clergy,  the  sen- 
ate, and  the  Roman  people,  the  troops  drawn  up  in 
grand  array,  the  members  of  the  monastic  orders,  the 
noble  matrons,  and  all  the  foreign  colleges  of  Franks, 
Frisians,  Saxons,  and  Lombards  came  out  as  far  as  the 
Milvian  Bridge  to  meet  the  holy  father,  and  with  gon- 
falons and  banners,  conducted  him  to  the  Vatican  Bas- 
ilica along  the  Tiber  bank,  which  with  the  overhanging 
hills  on  the  right  of  the  way,  reverberated  with  the 
canticles  of  triumph  and  jubilee  that  ihey  chanted  as 
they  moved  along.  There  the  pontiff  celebrated  the 
solemn  Mass,  at  which  all  the  congregation  devoutly 
received  the  body  and  blood  of  our  Lord  Jesius  Christ: 
and  next  day,  when  the  festival  of  the  blessed  apoatle 
had  been  solemnized — according  to  the  ancient  cus- 
tom—crossing the  Tiber,  the  holy  pope  entered  the 
city  of  Rome,  and  was  conducted  with  great  porop  and 
rejoicing  to  the  patriarchal  palace  of  the  Lateran. 

In  the  autumn  of  the  following  year,  Charlema^e 


390  THE  EIGHTH  CENTURY. 

assembled  a  diet  at  Magonza,  in  which  he  made  known 
the  object  of  his  passing  into  Italy — the  entire  French 
monarchy  being  at  that  time  in  a  state   of  subordina- 
tion— set  out  at  the  head  of  a  powerful  army,  and  after 
halting  seven  days  at  Ravenna,  moved  on  by  Ancona, 
whence  he  dismissed   King  Pepin  with   his  forces  to 
Beneventum,  and  so  crossing  the  Apennines  he  came 
to  Rome.     Full  of  joy  at  the  arrival  of  such  a  guest, 
the  pontiff  sent  the  magnates  and  the  senate  a  distance 
of  thirty  miles  to  meet  him.      He  was  met  at  the  first 
mile  stone  from  the  city,  by  the  Roman  troops,  and  by 
the  clergy  in  procession,  preceded  by  the  children  of 
the  various  schools  with  palm  branches  and  boughs  of 
olive  in  their  hands,  chanting  canticles  and  hymns  of 
joy  as  they  advanced.     At  the  sight  of  the  cross  the 
emperor  dismounted  from  his  horse,  and  surrounded 
by  his   paladins  and  royal  court,  proceeded  on  foot  to 
the  Vatican  Basilica.     There,  the  Pontiff,  surrounded 
by  his  cardinals  and  the  prelacy,  with  a  multitude  of 
the  Roman  people,  awaited  his  approach.       The  mon- 
arch ascended  the  steps  leading  to  the  vestibule  of  St. 
Peter's  upon  his  knees,  devoutly  kissing  each  step  in 
succession  until  he  came  to  the  platform  of  the  porch 
where  having  been  embraced  by  the  apostolic  Leo,  they 
both  advanced  to  the  Confession  of  St.  Peter,  to  return 
thanks  to  the  Most  High,  amid  joyful  canticles  and 
acclamations  from  all  sides. 

But  the  greatest  day  of  all  was  the  feast  of  Christ- 
mas in  the  year  800,  a  day  that  beheld  the  successor 
of  the  "fisherman,"  bestowing  the  diadem  of  the  Cae- 
sars on  Charlemagne;  and  Charlemagne  binding  him- 
self by  vows  in  the  name  of  Christ,  to  devote  himself 
with  all  the  vast  resources  at  his  command,  to  defend 


CORONA  TION  OF  CHARLEMAGNE.  391 

and  protect  the  empire  of  Peter.  During  the  celebra- 
tion of  the  Pontifical  Mass,  the  venerable  pope  took 
from  the  altar  an  imperial  diadem,  and  with  his  sacred 
hands  placed  it  on  the  brow  of  the  Emperor.  Then, 
the  faithful  Romans,  remembering  the  devotedness  of 
this  hero  in  the  defense  of  the  Church  of  Christ  and 
of  his  vicar,  burst  forth  into  the  acclamation,  '*Long 
life  and  victory  to  Charles,  crowned  of  God,  the  great 
and  pacific  emperor  of  the  Romans."  Thrice  was  this 
acclamation  taken  up  by  the  people,  the  princes,  and 
the  hierarchy;  and  all  with  joyful  voices,  united  in  the 
litanies  of  the  saints  that  were  chanted  before  the 
shrine  of  St  Peter,  while  Charlemagne  was  anointed 
emperor  with  holy  chrism  by  the  blessed  pope  on  that 
Christmas  day.  Then  Charlemagne  made  solemn  oath 
in  the  name  of  Christ,  before  God  and  his  blessed 
apostle  St.  Peter,  to  be,  to  the  utmost  of  his  power, 
knowledge,  and  ability,  the  defender  and  champion  of 
the  Roman  Church.  He  likewise  made  offerings  to 
the  apostle's  shrine — most  in  massive  plate,  with  vases 
and  ornaments,  such  as  lamps,  chalices  and  crowns,  al| 
of  gold,  and  sparkling  with  diamonds  and  jewels — no 
small  portion  of  the  Gothic  plunder,  that  had  been 
won  by  Clovis,  from  the  successors  of  Astolphus. 
Thus  were  the  treasures  and  embellish nients  that  had 
been  rudely  torn  from  the  (|ueen  of  pagan  empire 
brought  back  again  to  grace  the  church  of  Christ.  In 
fine,  the  donation  of  King  Pepin,  his  royal  father,  to 
St.  Peter's  as  augmented  by  the  estates  and  provinces 
which  he  himself  had  already  added  to  it,  was  sol- 
emnly ratified  and  renewed  by  Charlemagne  as  Em- 
peror of  the  Romans. 

On  hearing   these  tidings,  the  pilgrims  could  not 


392  THE  EIGHTH  CENTURY. 

restrain  themselves  from  joy,   but  broke,  as  if,  with 
one  voice,  into  the  hymn,  Te  Deum  laudamus! 

THE  POPE  AND  THE  TURK. 
No  race  casts  so  broad  and  dark  a  shadow  on  the  page 
of  ecclesiastical  history,  and  leaves  so  painful  an  impres- 
sion on  the  mind  of  the  reader,  as  the  Turkish.  The 
fierce  Goths  and  Vandals,  and  then  again  the  I^om- 
bards  were  converted  to  Catholicism.  The  Franks 
yielded  to  the  voice  of  St.  Remigius,  and  Clovis  their 
leader,  became  "the  eldest  son  of  the  church."  The 
Anglo-Saxons  gave  up  their  idols  at  the  preaching  of 
St.  Augustine  and  his  companions.  The  German 
tribes  acknowledged  Christ  amid  their  forests,  though 
they  martyred  St.  Boniface  and  other  English  and 
Irish  missionaries  who  came  to  them.  The  Maygars 
in  Hungary  were  led  to  the  faith  through  loyalty  to  their 
temporal  monarch,  their  royal  missioner  St.  Stephen. 
The  heathen  Danes  reappear  as  the  chivalrous  Nor- 
mans, the  haughty  but  true  sons  and  vassals  of  St. 
Peter.  The  Saracens  even,  who  gave  birth  to  an  im- 
posture withered  away  at  the  end  of  300  or  400  years, 
and  had  not  the  power  though  they  had  the  wili,  to 
persevere  in  their  enmity  to  the  cross.  The  Tartars 
had  both  the  will  and  the  power,  but  they  were  far-off 
from  Christendom,  or  they  came  down  in  ephemeral 
outbreaks,  which  were  rather  those  of  freebooters 
than  of  persecutors,  or  they  directed  their  fury  as  often 
against  the  enemies  of  the  Church,  as  against  her 
children.  But  the  unhappy  race  of  whom  we  treat, 
from  the  first  moment  they  appear  in  the  history  of 
Christendom,  are  its  unmitigated,  its  obstinate,  its 
consistent  foes.     They  are  inexhaustible  in  numbers, 


THE  POPE  AND  THE  TURK.  393 

pouring  down  upon  the  South  and  West,  and  taking 
one  and  the  same  terrible  mould  of  misbelief  as  they 
successively  descend.  They  have  the  populousness  of 
the  North,  with  the  fire  of  the  South;  the  resources  of 
Tartars,  with  the  fanaticism  of  Saracens.  And  when- 
their  strength  declines  and  age  steals  upon  them, 
there  is  no  softening,  no  misgiving;  they  die  and 
make  no  sign.  In  the  words  of  the  Wise  Man^ 
"Being  born,  they  forthwith  ceased  to  be;  and  have 
been  able  to  show  no  mark  of  virtue,  but  are  consumed 
in  wickedness,"  God's  judgments,  God's  mercies  are 
inscrutable;  one  nation  is  taken,  another  is  left.  It  is 
a  mystery,  but  the  fact  stands;  since  the  year  1048^ 
the  Turks  have  been  the  great  Antichrist  among  the 
the  races  of  men. 

Since  this  date,  because  then  it  was  that  Togrul  Beg 
finally  opened  the  gates  of  the  North  to  those  descents^ 
which  had  taken  place  indeed  at  intervals,  before,  but 
then  became  the  habit  of  centuries.  In  vain  was  the 
power  of  his  dynasty  overthrown  by  the  Crusaders;  ia 
vain  do  the  Seljukians  disappear  from  the  annals  of 
the  world;  in  vain  is  Constantinople  respited;  in  vain  is 
Europe  saved.  Christendom  in  arms  had  not  yet  fin- 
ished, it  had  but  begun  the  work,  in  which  it  neede<l 
the  grace  to  persevere  Down  came  the  savage  hordes 
as  at  first,  upon  Sogdiana,  and  Khorasan,  so  thea 
upon  Syria  and  its  neighbouring  countries.  Some- 
times they  remain  wild  Turcomans,  sometime  they  fall 
into  the  civilization  of  the  South;  but  there  they  are, 
in  Egypt,  in  the  Holy  Land,  in  Armenia,  in  Anatolia, 
forming  political  bodies  of  long  or  short  duration, 
breaking  up  here  to  form  again  there,  in  all  cases 
trampling  on  Christianity,  and  beating  out  its  sacred 
Card,  Newman. 


394  THE  POPE  AND  THE  TURK. 

impression  from  the  breasts  of  tens  of  thousands.     Nor 
is  this  all;  scarcely  is  the  race  of  Seljuk  quite  extinct, 
or  rather  when  it  is  on  its  very  death  bed,  after  it  had 
languished  and  shrunk  and  dwindled  and  flickered  and 
kept  on  dying  through  a  tedious  two  hundred  years, 
when  its  sole  remaining  heir  was  just  in  one  obscure 
court,  from  that  very  court   we  discern  the  birth   of 
another  empire,  as  dazzling  in  its  rise,  as  energetic  and 
impetuous  in  its  deeds  as  that    of  Togrul,    Alp  and 
Makk,  and  far  more  wide-spreading,  far  more  power- 
ful, far  more  lasting  than  the  Seljukian.      This  is  the 
dynasty  of  the  Ottomans  or  Osmanlis;  once  the  admi- 
ration, the  terror  of  nations   now  even  in  its  downfall, 
an  object  of  curiosity,  interest  and  anxiety;  but  whether 
high  or  low,  in  all  cases  to  the  Christian   the  inveter- 
ate  and  hateful  enemy  of  the  cross.      There   is  a  cer- 
tain   remarkable  parallel  and    contrast    between    the 
fortunes   of  these    two  races,  the  Seljukian  and  the 
Ottoman.     In  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century,  the 
race  of  Seljuk  all  but  took   Constantinople,   and  over- 
ran the  West,  and  did  not;  in  the  beginning  of  the  fif- 
teenth, the  Ottoman  Turks  were  all  but  taking  the 
same  city,  and  then  were  withheld  from  taking  it,  and 
at  length  did  take  it,  and  have  it  still.      In  each  case 
a  foe  came  upon  them  from  the  North,  still  more  fierce 
and   vigorous   than  they,  and  humbled  them   to  the 
dust. 

These  two  foes,  which  came  upon  the  Turks 
respectively,  are  Zingis,  and  Timour.  Zingis  came 
down  upon  the  Seljukians,  and  Timour  came  down 
upon  the  Ottomans.  Timour  pressed  the  Ottomans 
even  more  severely  than  Zingis  pressed  the  Sel- 
jukians; yet  the  Seljukians  did  not  recover  the  blow  of 


THE  POPE  AND  THE  TURK.  395 

Zingis;  but  the  Ottomans  survived  the  blow  of  Timour 
and  rose  more  formidable  after  it,  and  have  long  out- 
lived the  power  which  inflicted  it.  But  the  Turk  had 
a  much  more  powerful  adversary  who  outlasted  both 
Zingis  and  Timour,  and  whose  tremendous  blow  was, 
the  cause  in  great  part  of  the  fall  of  the  Seljukian 
dynasty.  That  adversary  was  the  pope.  From  the 
eleventh  to  the  eighteenth  century  he  held  incessant 
war  with  the  Turks. 

Pope  Sylvester  the  Second  united  the  Christian 
nations  against  them;  Pope  Gregory  the  Seventh  col- 
lected 50,000  men  to  repel  them;  Pope  Urban  the 
Second  set  in  motion  the  long  cru.sade;  Pope  Honorius 
the  Second  instructed  the  Knights  Templars  to  protect 
the  pilgrims  from  their  assault;  Pope  Eugenius  the 
Third  sent  St.  Bernard  to  preach  the  Holy  War;  Pope 
Innocent  the  Third  advocated  it  in  the  august  council 
of  theLateran;  Pope  Nicholas  the  Fourth  negotiated 
an  alliance  with  the  Tartars  for  its  prosecution;  Pope 
Gregory  the  Tenth  was  in  the  Holy  Land  in  the  midst 
of  it,  when  he  was  elected  Pope;  Pope  Urban  the  Fifth 
received  and  reconciled  the  Greek  emperor  with  a  view 
to  its  renewal;  Pope  Innocent  the'  Sixth  sent  the 
Blessed  Peter  Thomas  the  Carmelite  to  preach  in  its 
behalf;  Pope  Boniface  the  Ninth  raised  the  magnificent 
army  of  French,  Germans,  and  Hungarians,  who 
fought  the  great  battle  of  Nicopolis;  Pope  Eugenius 
the  Fourth  formed  the  confederation  of  Hungarians 
and  Poles,  who  fought  the  battle  of  Varna;  Pope 
Nicholas  the  Fifth  sent  round  St.  John  Capistran  to 
urge  the  princes  of  Christendom  against  the  enemy; 
Pope  Callixtus  the  Third  sent  the  celebrated  Hunuiades 
to  fight  with  them;  Pope  Pius  the  Second  addressed 
Card,  Newman, 


396  THE  POPE  AND  THE  TURK. 

to  their  Sultan  an  apostolic  letter  of  warning  and 
denunciation;  Pope  Sixtus  the  Fourth  fitted  out  a  fleet 
against  them;  Pope  Innocent  the  Eighth  made  them 
his  mark  from  the  beginning  of  his  pontificate  to  the 
end;  finally  the  power  of  the  Turk  was  crushed  under 
Pope  St.  Pius  the  Fifth  in  the  famous  battle  of 
Lepanto,  October  7th.  1571.  In  that  battle,  the  Turks 
lost  30,000  men,  with  their  general  Hali,  and  more 
than  two  hundred  ships  and  galleys,  besides  ninety, 
that  were  stranded,  burnt,  or  sunk.  There  were 
taken  one  hundred  and  sixteen  pieces  of  great  cannon, 
two  hundred  and  fifty-six  smaller,  5000  prisoners  with 
a  large  number  of  officers  of  rank,  among  whom  were 
two  sons  of  Hali,  nephews  to  the  grand  signior.  The 
booty  was  exceeding  great;  for  the  Turkish  fleet  was 
laden  with  the  plunder  of  many  merchant  vessels,  and 
of  several  islands;  fifteen  thousand  slaves  that  were 
found  chained  on  board  their  galleys  were  set  at  liberty. 
At  Lepanto,  the  crescent  paled  before  the  splendor  of 
the  cross. 

THE  CHURCH  AND   EDUCATION. 

Notwithstanding  the  inroads  of  Hun  and  Goth  and 
Vandal;  notwithstanding  the  destruction  that  followed 
in  the  wake  of  Alaric  and  Attila  and  Totila;  of  Zingis 
and  of  Timour,  and  the  swift  Bajazet  surnamed 
Ilderim  (Lightning);  notwithstanding  famine,  slaught- 
er, pestilence;  notwithstanding  that  the  blood  of  her 
children  flowed  in  torrents;  yet  the  Church  built  the 
University,  the  Church  preserved  Literature. 


UNIVERSITIES  FOUNDED  BY  CA THOLICS      397 


Date. 


Date. 


433, 

Bologna,  Italy. 

1386, 

630, 

Cambridge,  England. 

1390, 

700, 

Cracow,  Poland. 

1394, 

729, 

Paris,  France. 

802, 

Oxford,  England. 

1403, 

820, 

Lyons,  France. 

1405, 

926, 

I/Duvain,  now   in  Bel- 

1409, 

gium. 

1409, 

968, 

Cordova,  Spain. 

1411, 

1145, 

Rheims,  France. 

1419, 

Thirteenth  Cmtuxy. 

1422, 

1209, 

Valencia,  Spain. 

1431, 

1224, 

Naples,  Italy. 

1436, 

1228, 

Padua,  Italy. 

1439, 

1229, 

Toulouse,  France. 

1440, 

1233, 

Salerno,  Italy 

1445, 

1239, 

Salamanca,  Spain. 

1450. 

1245. 

Rome,  Italy. 

1450, 

1263, 

Sorbonne,  France. 

1464, 

1264. 

Ferrara,  Italy. 

1456, 

1289, 

Montpelier,  France. 

1460, 

Fourteenth  Century. 

1460, 

1305, 

Orleans,  France. 

1460. 

1307, 

Perugia,  Italy. 

1466. 

1308, 

Coimbra,  Portugal. 

1465, 

1339, 

Grenoble,  France. 

1472, 

1343, 

Pisa,  lUly. 

1473, 

1346, 

Valladolid,  Spain. 

1474, 

134S, 

Prague,  Austria. 

1476. 

1349. 

Perpignan,  France. 

1476, 

1360, 

Pavia,  Italy. 

1477, 

1364, 

Angers,  France. 

1477, 

1364, 

Anjou,  France. 

1477, 

1366, 

Vienna,  Austria. 

1482, 

1366, 

Orange,  France. 

1491. 

1368, 

Geneva,  Switzerland. 

1494. 

1380, 

Sienna,  Italy. 

1498. 

1886, 

Cologne,  Germany. 

Mi»9, 

Heidelburg,'Germany . 
Erfurt,  Germany. 
Palermo,  Italy. 
Fifteenth  Century. 
Wurzburg,  Germany. 
Turin,  Italy. 
Leipsic,  Germany. 
Aix,  France. 
St.  Andrew's,  Scotland. 
Rostock,  Germany. 
Dole,  France. 
Poitiers,  France. 
Caen.  France. 
Florence,  Italy. 
Mechlin,  Germany. 
Catania.  Italy. 
Glasgow,  Scotland. 
Barcelona,  Spain. 
Valence,  France. 
Greifswalde,  Germany. 
Nantes,  France. 
Basel,  Switzerland. 
P'ribourg,  Gennauy. 
Bourges,  France. 
Budapest,  Hungary. 
Bordeaux,  France. 
Treves,  Germany. 
Saragossji,  Spain. 
Copenhagen,  Denmark. 
Upsala,  Swetlen. 
Tubingen.  Germany. 
Mentz,  Gennany. 
Innspruck,  Gcrmaay. 
Pantia.  Italy. 
Muustcr,  Germany. 
Al>erdeen.  ScollamL 
Madrid,  Spain. 
Toledo.  S)>ain. 


398      UNIVERSITIES  FOUNDED  BY  CA  THOLICS. 


Date. 

Sixteenth  Century. 
1502,     Wittenberg,  (Termany. 
1504,     Seville,  Spain. 
1506,     Frankfort,  Germany. 
1506,     Breslau,  Germany. 
1517,     Siguenza,  Spain. 

1532,  Santiago,   Spain,    and 

Salamanca. 

1533,  Evora,  Portugal. 
1537,     Granada,  Spain. 
1540,     Macerata,  Italy. 
1548,     Messina,  Italy. 
1562,     Sassari,  Italy. 

1564,  Besancon,  France. 

1565,  Dillengen    (Suabia) 

Germany. 
1568,     Douai,  France. 
1568,     Braunsberg,  Germany. 
SINCE  THE  BATTIvE:  OF 
I<EPANTO. 
Nancy,  France. 
Wilna  (Polish)  Russia 


Date. 
1621, 


1572, 
1578, 
1580, 
1580, 
1585, 
1592, 


Strasburg  (Alsace)  Ger- 
many. 

Salzburg,  Austria. 

Bruges,  France. 

Urbino,  Italy. 
Eighteenth   Century. 
1722,     Dijon,  France. 

Pau,  France. 

Camerino,  Italy, 

Erlangen,     Bavaria, 
Germany- 

Grosswardein,       Hun- 
gary. 

Ivemberg,  Austrig. 
Nineteenth   Century. 
1808,     Clermont,  France. 

Rennes,  France. 

Liege,  Belgium. 

Ghent,  Belgium. 

Munich,  Germany. 

Brussels,  Belgium. 

Drumcondra,  Ireland. 

Agram,  Hungary. 

Czernowitz,  Austria. 

Prague  (Bohemia)  Aus- 
tria. 

Washington,      United 
States. 

Lille,  France. 


1623. 
1665, 
1671, 


1722, 

1727, 
1743, 

1780, 

1783, 


1808, 
1816, 
1816, 
1826, 
1834, 
1862, 


1887, 


1888, 


Klausenburg,  Hungary.  1874, 

Orviedo,  Spain.  1875, 

Gratz,  Austria.  1882, 

Venice,  Italy. 
Seventeenth  Century. 
1603,     Cagliara,  Italy. 
1606,     Parma,  Italy. 
1614,     Paderborn,  Germany. 

At  present  the  Catholic  Church  numbers  about 
260,000,000  members.  There  are  about  1,200  bishops, 
counting  some  15  patriarchs,  200  archbishops,  and  20 
prelates  with  dioceses.  There  are  some  350,000  Cath- 
olic priests  in  the  whole  world.  The  inhabitants  of 
Italy,  Spain,  France,  Austria,  Belgium,  and  Ireland 
are  nearly  all  Catholic.     In  Switzerland  about  half  are 


PROTESTANT  TRIBUTES.  809 

Catholics;  in  Germany  over  a  third  of  the  population, 
and  in  Russia,  11,000,000.  In  Europe  about  three- 
quarters  of  the  entire  population  are  Catholic.  In 
America,  there  are  80,000,000  Catholics,  of  whom  there 
are  11,000,000  in  the  United  States,  while  Mexico, 
South  and  Central  America,  with  the  exception  of 
Brazil,  are  almost  entirely  Catholic.  The  adjacent 
islands  are  mainly  Catholic.  In  Asia  there  are  10,- 
000,000  Catholics;  in  Africa,  3,000,000;  in  Australia, 
1,000,000. 

PROTESTANT  TRIBUTES. 

RIGHT  REV.  RANDOLPH  S    FOSTER. 

It  cannot  be  disputed  that  the  Catholic  Church  de- 
scends in  direct  and  unbroken  line  from  the  Apostolic 
time  and  Church. 

Within  her  pale  both  recently  and  anciently,  have 
been  many  of  the  most  illustrious  saints  and  scholars. 

She  presents  the  most  compact  and  powerful  organ- 
ization that  has  ever  l^en  set  up  among  men.  She  has 
wielded  more  power  over  wide  spaces  of  time  and  place 
than  any  other  institution,  ancient  or  modern.  She  is 
still  to-day  as  powerful  as  she  was  in  the  time  of  the 
great  Gregory  or  Hildebrand  in  essential  respects. 
That  there  are  still  many  saints  within  her  pale  there  is 
no  reason  to  doubt.  Her  Episcopal  Throne  on  the 
Tiber  still  moves  the  world.  It  is  not  perfectly  clear 
that  she  will  ever  be  less  powerful  than  2>he  is  to*day. 

Her  communion  is  as  large  as  in  her  palmiest  days, 
and  her  children  not  less  loyal  in  constraine<l  allegi* 
ance.  Neither  England  nor  Germany  nor  the  Uuited 
States  is  free  from  her  grasp.  In  the  United  States, 
in  fifty  years,  she  has  passed  from  nothing  to  absolute 
mastery. 


400  PROTESTANT  TRIBUTES, 

There  is  no  mission  field  in  the  world  where  she  has 
not  more  converts  than  all  combined  Protestantism. 
The  elements  of  her  conservative  power  have  no  par- 
allel. Missionary  efforts  in  her  own  dominion  have 
'hitherto  been  effectual  to  win  a  score  of  thousands  of 
converts  which  are  an  inappreciable  loss  from  her  fold, 
not  missed  more  than  a  hair  from  the  head. 

LORD     MACAULKY. 

The  history  of  that  church  joins  together  the  two 
great  ages  of  human  civilization.  No  other  institution 
is  left  standing  which  carries  the  mind  back  to  the 
times  when  the  smoke  of  sacrifice  rose  from  the 
Pantheon  and  when  camelopards  and  tigers  bounded 
in  the  Flavian  amphitheatre.  The  proudest  royal- 
houses  are  but  of  yesterday,  when  compared  with  the 
line  of  the  Supreme  Pontiffs.  That  line  we  trace 
back  in  an  unbroken  series  from  the  Pope  who  crowned 
Napoleon  in  the  nineteenth  century,  to  the  Pope  who 
crowned  Pepin  in  the  eighth;  and  far  beyond  the  time 
of  Charlemagne  the  august  dynasty  extends.  The 
Republic  of  Venice  came  next  in  antiquity.  But  the 
Republic  of  Venice  was  modern  when  compared  with 
the  Papacy,  and  the  Republic  of  Venice  is  gone,  and 
the  Papacy  remains.  The  Papacy  remains,  not  in 
decay,  not  a  mere  antique,  but  full  of  life  and  youth- 
ful vigor.  The' Catholic  Church  is  still  sending  forth 
to  the  farthest  ends  of  the  world  missionaries  as 
zealous  as  those  who  landed  in  Kent  with  Augustine 
and  still  confronting  hostile  kings  with  the  same  spirit 
with  which  she  confronted  Attila.  The  number  of 
her  children  is  greater  than  in  any  former  age.  Her 
acquisitions  in  the  New  World  have  more  than  com- 
pensated   for  what  she    has    lost    in    the  Old.     Her 


PRO'IESTANT  TRIBUTES.  401 

spiritual  ascendency  extends  over  the  vast  countries 
which  lie  between  the  plains  of  the  Missouri  and  Cape 
Horn,  countries,  which  a  century  hence,  may  not 
improbably  contain  a  population  as  large  as  that  which 
now  inhabits  Europe.  Nor  do  we  see  any  sign  which 
indicates  that  the  term  of  her  long  dominion  is 
approaching.  She  saw  the  commencement  of  all  the 
governments  and  of  all  the  ecclesiastical  establishments 
that  now  exist  in  tbe  world;  and  we  feel  no  assurance 
that  she  is  not  destined  to  see  the  end  of  them  all. 
She  was  great  and  respected  before  the  Saxon  had  set 
foot  on  Britain,  before  the  Frank  had  passed  the 
Rhine,  when  Grecian  eloquence  still  flourished  at 
Antioch,  when  idols  were  still  worshipped  in  the 
temple  of  Mecca.  And  she  may  still  exist  in  undi- 
minished vigor  when  some  traveller  from  New  Zea- 
land shall,  in  the  midst  of  a  vast  solitude,  take  his 
stand  on  a  broken  arch  of  London  Bridge  to  sketch  the 
ruins  of  St.  Paul's. 


ERRATUM. 

Page  145,  line  27,  read  Martyrio  instead  of  Martyris, 


The  few  remaining  errors  are  corrected  in  the  pages  subse- 
quent to  them. 


i 

J 


U.C.  BERKELEY  LiBRARII 

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